


Love

by afsalta



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 54,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24392407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afsalta/pseuds/afsalta
Summary: A ton of one shots written about Amelia's and Link's journey through her pregnancy and into parenthood.
Relationships: Atticus Lincoln/Amelia Shepherd
Comments: 84
Kudos: 136





	1. First Ultrasound

Link woke up, feeling Amelia tossing and turning in his arms. “Amelia, what’s wrong?” He heard her let out a sigh.

“I’m scared.” He turned on the lamp beside the bed, sitting up to look at her.

“Why?” Link motioned for her to move closer, holding his arms out. She laid into his embrace.

“The ultrasound. I need to know-no. I need everything to be okay and if it’s not then I won’t be okay.” She sniffled. He pulled her closer, moving so she was sitting between his legs. Amelia wrapped her arms over his, leaning her head onto his neck. “And I don’t know what I’m going to do. So I’m scared.”

“It’s 2 in the morning. We have 6 hours until the appointment.”

“I know.” He kissed the top of her head, breathing in her vanilla scented shampoo.

“We have two options. We can sit here and worry, talk about everything that could go wrong. I can listen, I can make a list, I can do whatever you need. Or,” he paused, “we can go to sleep and try to shut out all the bad thoughts. It’s not easy, but I will sit with you until every last bad thought is gone and you can sleep.” Amelia let out a sob.

“I’m scared Link, I’m really scared.” He hugged her, tighter.

“Oh Amelia, I know. I can’t promise that everything will be okay, but I can promise that I will do everything in my power to make it okay.” She turned in his lap, facing him. He placed a hand on her cheek, wiping a tear from under her eye. “I can’t possibly understand what you’re feeling right now. But I will be here for you. I will be here for whatever you need.” She burrowed her face into his neck.

“I love you.” She whispered, breathing in his scent. “Thank you for being here.” Amelia pulled away to look him in the eyes. “I love you, Link.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips, brushing back a strand of hair framing her face.

“I love you, Amelia.” Link turned off the lamp next to him, laying down so Amelia was on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “We’re all okay."

They sat in the waiting room, Amelia gripping onto Link’s hand like her life depended on it.  
“Amelia?” She turned, seeing Carina’s warm smile. Link helped pull her up from the chair, leading her to the exam room. “Everything off from the waist under. You can cover with the sheet. I’ll be back in a minute.” She closed the door behind her. Amelia unbuttoned her pants, pulling them down and following with her underwear. Link took her clothes, folding them up and putting them on the chair beside the bed. She pulled the thin, paper sheet over her legs and laid down on the bed. “Are we all set?” Amelia nodded. “Okay. We are going to do an internal scan, it will be a little uncomfortable.” Carina inserted the probe, adjusting the view and clicking buttons on the scanner. 

“Is everything okay?” Amelia whispered, gripping onto Link’s hand, tighter, anchoring herself on his grip. She looked over at him, meeting his eyes. He could see the fear plastered over her face. 

“Everything is perfectly healthy, Amelia. This is all textbook.” Carina turned the screen to show the couple. A gasp escaped from Link’s mouth.

“We made a baby, Amelia.” Amelia looked up at him again.

“I don’t think I can look.” 

“Amelia, look at the screen. Everything is okay. Our baby is okay” Amelia slowly turned to see the screen, her mouth widening and eyes watering. “See? Everything’s healthy.” Her hand subconsciously moved to lay over her stomach. 

“Oh my god. Oh, my god.” Carina smiled, amused by the reactions of the parents.

“Would you like to hear the heartbeat?” They both nodded. The room was soon filled with the rapid, loud and strong, beating of their baby’s heartbeat. Amelia’s face broke into an uncontrollable grin. “Strong and steady. That is a healthy baby, Amelia.” She removed the probe, placing it back on the machine. “Okay, so you will come back in 2 weeks for another scan. You can schedule with the nurse outside. And here,” she paused, grabbing a roll of photos from the machine, “are the pictures of your baby.” Amelia took them, admiring the small fetus in the pictures. “Let me know if you have any questions, okay?” They nodded at her, Link watching as she left the room. He handed Amelia her clothes before she pulled them back on. 

“I’m sorry I freaked out this morning. I was just scared.” Link wrapped her into a hug.

“It’s okay, Amelia. It’s okay to be scared. But now, we know that our little peanut is healthy and safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Let me know if you liked it or have any suggestions for future chapters!


	2. Concern

She shifted uncomfortably, trying to relieve some of the aching in her feet and focus on the surgery. “You okay?” Link’s voice was riddled with concern, his eyes looking up from the patient below them.

“I’m fine. My feet just hurt a little.” She rolled her head back, adjusting her neck. “Brody, suction here.” 

“If you want, I can finish. Go rest, Amelia.” She raised her eyebrows.

“Really Link, I’m fine. We’re almost done anyways. Suture.” Link handed her the suture, watching as she carefully stitched up the patient below them. “And we’re done. Great work, everyone. Let’s get him up to the ICU.” Amelia placed a hand on her back, allowing herself to stretch. She pulled off her surgical gown and placed it into the bin. She felt a hand on the small of her back, turning to meet Link’s gaze. “I’m serious, I’m fine. Just a little s-ah!” His eyes widened at her.

“What happened? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?” She stood, her mouth wide open. 

“I think-I think the baby just kicked.” His concern turned into a smile, a hand moving to her bump.

“What?” Amelia grinned up at him, a laugh escaping her mouth.

“I’ve been feeling this almost, twisting feeling in my stomach all day and I thought I was just nauseous or something but I think it’s the baby moving.” She turned, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the scrub room with her, starting the water at the sink. They dried their hands, throwing the towels into the waste bin.

“Can I feel?” She nodded, placing his hand onto her belly.

“I don’t know if it’ll move aga-there! That was a kick!” Link’s smile was uncontrollable, spread all over his face. He leaned down, kissing her lightly. 

“Oh my god, Amelia. Oh my god.” She laughed, scrunching her nose. He wrapped her into a hug, squeezing her as tightly as he could without squishing her belly. Silence settled between the two. He let out a breath. “I love you, Amelia. And our baby. I love you both.” Amelia froze. Sure, she had sort of said she loved him before and he had sort of said it back, but hearing those three words meant something. She pulled away from him to glance up at him. Her hands found his.

“I love you too, Link.” She sniffled, blinking away the tears that were forming in her eyes. “It’s the stupid hormones, I can’t stop crying.” He laughed. Her stomach gurgled soon after, a frown sneaking onto her face. “And I hate to ruin the moment,” Amelia smiled, “but the baby wants food.”

“Well, what the baby wants, the baby gets. What are we talking?” She paused, looking up in thought.

“Pizza. Oh, Pepperoni!” He wrapped a hand on her waist and led her out of the scrub room. They walked towards the cafeteria. 

“Pizza it is.”

They laid in the bed, four hands laying on her baby bump. Her shirt was pulled up to rest under her bra, exposing her belly. Link watched as the baby moved, the movement obvious from the shift of her belly. “And the baby’s been doing this all day?” She nodded.

“All day. Needs to learn that Mom has to do surgery and work. Can’t just kick around all day and move up and down. Especially on my bladder. That is a big problem.” He smiled at her. “You’d think that the baby wouldn’t be that strong or make me feel that much, I mean, only 17 weeks! But, every little movement, or, flutter or kick is like all of my organs are being pushed.” The baby kicked again, right under Link’s hand. “See! The audacity. I have to sleep! I have to work, baby.” She groaned.

“We’re gonna have a little soccer player. Or, a dancer. Or swimmer. Well, whatever they want to be. Which, they can be whatever they want, it doesn’t matter to me.” He paused. “No, as long as they’re doing something good, you know? That they like and is-okay. You know?” His head fell against the headboard, his gaze blankening. Amelia laughed at his rambling.

“You’re cute when you freak out.” He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head.

“I’m not freaking out.” She tilted her head, her eyes widening in doubt. “Okay, maybe a little. But you’re gonna have to deal with it for a long time.” She placed a hand on her cheek.

“I love you.” Their lips met, slowly and gently. He pulled her onto his lap, her legs straddling him.

“I love you more, Mia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short, sorry about that! Let me know if you liked it!


	3. It's a...

“Do you want to know the baby’s gender?” Amelia looked at her boyfriend in the chair next to her. He was calm, reading through a magazine in the waiting room. She grabbed his hand.

“Yeah. I wanna know everything we can.” Link could see the fear in her eyes.

“Hey, everything’s okay. The baby’s been perfectly okay at every appointment.” She sighed.

“I know, it’s just that this is when I found out..about Christopher during my last pregnancy. Just a little nervous.” Link reached over and kissed her forehead. She leaned her head onto his shoulder, allowing herself to relax for a brief moment before Carina called her name. Link stood up and waited for Amelia, noticing her blank stare.

“Amelia?” She jumped out of her thoughts, taking Link’s hand and walking into the exam room.

“How are you feeling Amelia?” Amelia laid down onto the bed and pulled up her shirt to expose her stomach.

“Tired. A bit sore, but nothing new. The baby’s been moving around a lot, though.” Carina smiled down at her.

“That’s good,” she put the gel onto Amelia’s stomach, using the ultrasound wand to move it around and get a clear view. “Do you want to know the baby’s gender?” They both nodded. Carina adjusted the wand to get a better view. “And it looks like you are having a baby boy!” Link’s face lit up, his mouth opening in surprise. He looked down to see a small smile on Amelia’s face, her chin quivering ever so slightly. 

“But everything’s okay? He’s healthy?” Carina nodded.

“Just like last time. Perfectly healthy.” She wiped the gel off of Amelia’s stomach. “So, now I only need to see you every month until it gets closer to the due date. If you have any questions or concerns, just let me know.” Link offered the doctor a smile as she walked out before turning to Amelia.

“Are you okay?” She sat up on the table.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I-uh, I have a patient. I gotta go.” She quickly kissed him before hurrying out of the room. Link’s spirits dropped, not knowing how to help her.

“How was your day?” Amelia climbed into the bed, unfastening her bra and throwing it onto the ground. She had already replaced her shirt with one of Link’s, drowning in the fabric of his Mariners team shirt. She shrugged.

“My patient almost didn’t make it. But it was pretty calm other than that.” She nestled under his arm. “How about yours?”

“Slow day. Had a hip replacement but that was it.” Amelia wrapped an arm around his waist, snuggling further into his chest. “Can we talk?” Her head snapped up.

“About what?”

“Earlier. At the OB. You seemed, I don’t know, upset. Why?” She pulled away from him, sitting up in the bed to look at her boyfriend.

“I don’t know. I just keep thinking about Christopher, and when we found out we’re having a boy, I guess it just brought up some feelings. And I kind of panicked.” Amelia sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect it.” Her shoulders slumped. Link grabbed her hand.

“It’s okay. I was just worried about you. Come here.” He opened his arms, Amelia falling back into his embrace and settling under the covers. “Don’t apologize for your grief, Amelia. It’s okay.” She sniffled, making a small noise as she attempted to hold back tears. “Let it out. Let it all out.” She began to cry, curling tighter into his body. 

“I miss him, Link. I miss him so much and I wish he could be here to meet his little brother.” He wiped a tear from her cheek, his thumb caressing her face.

“I know.” He paused, allowing himself to take a breath. “You’ve come so far, Amelia. You’ve been sober for years. You’ve built an amazing life for yourself and I’m lucky enough to be in it. I know that I didn’t know you when you had Christopher,” he placed a hand over her stomach, “but I’m so proud of how far you’ve come. We have a healthy, baby boy who is growing inside of you, and that’s incredible.” Amelia looked up at Link, her teary eyes meeting his.

“Thank you.” She buried her face into his chest, taking a deep breath. “For being here. I love you, Link.” He kissed her head, pulling her on top of his body.

“I love you more. I’m not going anywhere, Amelia.” Sleep overtook her soon, Link finding his own comfort in seeing the rise and fall of her breathing, the sounds of her soft snoring letting him know that she was okay. He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend’s small frame, allowing his own mind to settle down and fall into his own sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!


	4. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little bit different. It's set in 16x01, before Amelia knows that she's pregnant. It's her experiencing some symptoms (but clearly oblivious to the fact that she could be pregnant). Hope you enjoy!

Her phone rang, the text lighting up the screen in her dark room.

ATTICUS LINCOLN: Hey, didn’t see you at work today, Koracick said he’s covering your service. Hope everything’s okay.

She smiled at his message, her stomach twisting and it definitely wasn’t from the nausea she was feeling. A shaky hand reached out to the glass of water on her nightstand as she took note of the time. 2:46 AM. Amelia groaned, knowing she was supposed to be at work in a few hours. She’d just call in sick. The light of her phone caused her to squint as she typed in response.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: Home sick. Dying, probably. Should be back by the end of the week.

The typing bubbles appeared in response, Amelia awaiting his message. She would never admit it out loud, but he made her feel wanted. Cared for. They had barely dated, but it was moments like this, where even just after she had ‘dumped’ him, he still took the time to check in on her and make sure everything’s okay, that she felt especially ‘seen’ . His whole demeanor did that to her. 

ATTICUS LINCOLN: What happened? Flu?

AMELIA SHEPHERD: Don’t think so. Got my shot already. Probably am just succumbing to the darkness inside of me.

Amelia could almost hear his laugh, light and happy. Another thing she liked about him. He was so calm and so happy, all the time. She had spent so much of her life focusing on loss and grief, but he made her forget about it. He always assumed the best and managed to make her assume it too.

ATTICUS LINCOLN: Want me to come over? I can bring some pizza or something for you.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: No, it’s okay. Don’t want to get you sick.

Her stomach twisted, and it definitely was the nausea this time. She jumped out of bed to run into the bathroom, emptying her stomach into the toilet. Her reflection stopped her before she left, staring back into the tired, empty eyes in front of her. She missed him. Amelia remembered her phone and the conversation she had been having with Link. She rinsed her mouth and ran back into her bedroom, picking up her phone.

ATTICUS LINCOLN: I’ll be over in 20 minutes?  
ATTICUS LINCOLN: Or not. Let me know. I don’t care about getting sick, Amelia.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: Sorry, was puking. Don’t bring food, but I won’t complain if you come and hold me.

ATTICUS LINCOLN: Got it. See you in 10. 

She flopped down onto the bed, eagerly anticipating his arrival. 10 minutes had never felt longer in her entire life. There was a knock on her door. She slowly stood up, opening the door to reveal Meredith.

“I heard you puking. You okay? You look like crap.” Amelia rubbed her eyes.

“Yeah, just sick.” Meredith walked past Amelia, sitting down on the bed.

“Anything I can do?” The brunette sat down next to her sister, her shoulders slumping down.

“No, it’s okay. Link’s coming over.”

“I thought you broke up with him?” Amelia laid her head on Meredith’s shoulder.

“Kind of. I don’t know.” Her phone buzzed on the bedside table. Amelia quickly lunged for it, Meredith laughing.

ATTICUS LINCOLN: I’m outside. Can you come let me in?

She smiled, grabbing her robe and wrapping it around her body. Meredith offered her a small wave before retreating back to her bedroom. Amelia hurried down the stairs, unlocking the door to reveal a very smiley Link.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” She pulled him upstairs and into her bedroom. Throwing off her robe, she collapsed onto the bed and curled up into a ball. Amelia patted the space in the bed next to her. Link pulled off his shirt, removing his pants after. He climbed into the bed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling him close to her. She sighed in content, finding peace in being with him. “Thank you. For coming. You didn’t have to.”

“I know. But, I would want somebody to be with me if I was sick. And also, you get to come do this with me if I get sick.” Amelia laughed lightly, curling into him further. Sleep soon overtook her, the steady beating of his heart in her ear lulling her to sleep.

Amelia woke up to a knock on the door, opening to reveal Maggie standing with a cup of coffee. Her face widened as she noticed Link in the bed next to her sister.

“Oh my god. Are you back together?” Amelia shook her head.

“No, he just came over so I wouldn’t be alone.” Maggie handed her the cup of coffee.

“That sounds pretty back together to me.” Their whispers had stirred Link. He sat up in the bed, soon taking note of Maggie’s presence.

“Oh, hey.” Amelia handed him the coffee.

“You need this more than I do. Plus, the smell makes me wanna puke.” He gladly took the cup, taking a large sip before relaxing back on the headboard. Amelia paused as her stomach turned, hoping it would soon pass. Her hopes were not fulfilled, causing her to jump out of the bed and run to the bathroom down the hall. Meredith, who was brushing her teeth, offered Amelia a quizzical look as she threw up into the toilet. Meredith pulled Amelia’s hair back and rubbed her back as an attempt at comforting her. Link soon met them in the doorway, concern splayed all over his face. She leaned back against the cool bathtub. “Guys, I’m fine.” Meredith gave Amelia her mom look.

“No, you’re not. You’re going to call in sick so you don’t puke all over a patient.” Amelia groaned, her head going back against the shower door. “I’ll call Bailey for you. Stay in bed, get better.” Meredith walked out of the bathroom. Link approached her, sitting down on the bathroom floor next to her. 

“I almost thought you were lying about being sick and it was just a ploy to get me to come over.” This gained a laugh from the brunette.

“Nope. I’ve been puking since yesterday.” She sighed. “If you have to go to work, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.” He took her hand.

“Well, I have the day off. So, I’ll stay here with you,” Amelia smiled at him.

“I would kiss you, but I probably taste like puke.” She stood up, grabbing the container of mouthwash from the sink and quickly rinsing her mouth out. Link laughed as she bent down to kiss him, softly. She smiled against his lips. “That’s better,” she whispered.

“Much better.” Link pulled her down, Amelia sitting on his lap.

“I missed this.” She tugged at the hem of his shirt, her hands begging him to take it off.

“Mhm. I did too. But,” her legs wrapped around his waist as he stood up, “we are not having sex while you’re sick.” She groaned. “So, we’ll go lay down until you feel better. And then, we can see where this goes.” He walked them into her room, placing her down on the bed in front of him.

“Fine.” Link grinned at her annoyance.

“Fine.”


	5. Leo

“Link?” Amelia walked through the halls of their home, an awake baby lying in her arms. He stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. 

“Yeah?” She smiled at the sight of him.

“Can you take him? Owen needs me to get Leo. Allison’s sick and he doesn’t want Leo to get sick, too.” Link took their son, holding the two-month-old in his arms. “Thank you! I’ll be back in 20 minutes. He lifted up Scout’s arm, waving goodbye.

“Goodbye, Mommy!” Amelia grinned at his baby voice while walking out of the house, locking the door behind her. “Well, it looks like it’s just you and me, buddy.” He walked into the bedroom, placing Scout down on the bed. Link kept an eye on him as he changed into clothes and brushed his hair. Scout cooed on the bed, his arms swinging wildly in the air. “Let’s get you dressed, huh buddy?” He lifted the baby up and walked into the nursery, laying him down on the changing table. Link unzipped his onesie, blowing a raspberry onto his belly, eliciting a shout from the boy. He changed Scout’s diaper and put him into clean clothes before lifting him up into his Dad’s arms. Link walked out into the living room, settling onto the couch with Scout. He switched on the TV, turning on last night’s baseball game that he hadn’t gotten to watch due to sleep deprivation. He narrated the game for the baby, getting lost between the person and the sport he loved. The ortho surgeon was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of the front door being opened. “Hey, Leo!”

“So, Allison has a stomach bug. We’ll probably have this guy for a few days.” Link nodded as she sat down on the couch with the toddler. 

“Scot!” They laughed at Leo’s pronunciation, Amelia kissing his cheek.

“Yeah, Leo. That’s Scout.” The toddler reached out to the baby. “Okay, be gentle.” He crawled over to Link, placing his hands on the man’s legs. Leo reached out to touch the baby’s head, blurting out his unintelligible words at the sight of the baby. 

“Do you want breakfast? I can go make pancakes for us all.” Amelia smiled at her boyfriend, reaching out her arms to take the baby from him.

“That would be great.” She placed Scout in the bassinet they kept in the living room, smoothing down his hair. “Okay, Leo. We have to be quiet.” A finger silenced her lips. “Scout needs to sleep.” She picked up the toddler, bringing him over to the kitchen island to sit with Link. He turned around to see her staring at him.

“What’s with the staring?” Amelia sat Leo down on the counter, making faces back at the small boy.

“Nothing. Just that I love you a lot.” He grinned, moving to look back at the pancakes he was cooking.

“I love you, ‘Mels.” Silence settled into the room, just the light of the sun illuminating their figures. He placed a plate in front of her, handing her the bottle of syrup. Link moved next to her at the island. “I’ll go put him in the playpen.” He picked up the toddler, placing him down into the small area filled with toys. “Just let us know if you need anything, okay?”

“Oka!” Link ruffled his hair, moving back to the island.

“You know he has no idea what you just said, right?” He laughed.

“Yeah, but it makes me feel like I’m doing better than just sticking him in there and ignoring him.” Amelia wiped her mouth with a napkin, smiling at him.

“I’ll keep an eye on him. You eat.” She cleared her plate, setting it down in the sink. Scout started to cry, Amelia hurrying over to attend to him. “Someone else wants breakfast, too.” She sat back down next to Link, lifting up her shirt so the baby could eat. “Now you’re the one staring.” He chuckled.

“You’re just pretty amazing.” Amelia brushed her hair back.

“I am, aren’t I.”

Amelia walked into the bedroom, leaning on the doorframe. “Leo’s down. And Scout?”

“Fast asleep. He likes his Daddy best.” She rolled her eyes at him, crawling into the bed next to him. 

“It’s not fair. I birthed him. I feed him. And he still likes you better.” She groaned dramatically as he paused.

“Do you want another kid?” Amelia sat back as if in shock.

“I mean, I haven’t really thought about it. Scout’s only 2 months old.” Link pulled her onto his lap.

“I know, but when he’s older. Because we were able to handle Leo and Scout today, I think we could do it.” 

“Are you sure you’d want another? We got lucky with Scout, he’s really calm. Leo was a monster when he was a baby.”

“Amelia, I don’t care. Because I know that we can do it, no matter how much of a terror our future child is. Plus, I always wanted a sibling growing up.” She placed her hands on his cheeks, straddling him.

“Okay, but we are not ending up with too many more. I don’t want him to have a gazillion siblings like I did. It’s a lot.” She leaned down to kiss him. “How soon are we talking? Because my body doesn’t have forever in terms of reproducing.” Link laughed.

“Whenever. How about we see what happens for the next while? You and I have a lot of sex, and we seem to be good at making a baby.” Amelia scrunched her nose, a grin covering her face. “I mean, you got pregnant the first time we had sex. I’d say we’re both decently fertile, ‘Mels.” She laid her forehead against his.

“We’re not having sex tonight, though. There are two sleeping children a room over. And, we’re too sleep-deprived to do this.” Link embraced her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo.

“Okay.” He reached out, switching off the light next to the bed. He wrapped the sheet over them, holding her tightly. “Goodnight, Amelia.” Link never received a response, just a small sigh of content as sleep took her over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the delay, I had some writer's block. I'll be posting a re-write of Amelia meeting Link's parents later this week. Anyways, I'm sticking with the name Scout until we hear otherwise.
> 
> If you have any requests or recommendations, let me know in the comments below! Kudos and comments are always greatly appreciated <3


	6. Move-In

Amelia rubbed her belly, groaning as she bent over to pull off her shoes. She placed them on the rack in Link’s apartment, dropping her coat onto the floor. He picked up the coat and hung it up, watching as she bolted for the bedroom. When he entered, she was spread out on the bed, hand resting on top of her belly. He smiled at the sight of her, sitting down on the mattress beside her. “You okay?”

“I feel so fat-”

“You’re not fat, Amelia,” he interrupted, a hand pulling her leg onto his lap to rub her feet. She moaned at the contact, a long day’s work having made her feet incredibly sore. “You’re growing out child. Which is amazing.” 

“Well, I feel very pregnant.” He set her leg back down, standing up at the side of the bed.

“I have to go shower,” Link said, leaning down to kiss her lips quickly. “I’ll be back in 10 minutes.” Amelia smiled as he walked out of the room. She sat up in the bed as she heard the shower turn on, kicking her legs to the side and standing up slowly. A hand rested on the small of her back while she walked over to his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt of his drawer and slipping it on. He had bought a small bowl for her to keep hair ties in, something she was grateful for. It was a small thing, but it showed her how much he cared. About the little things. Amelia grabbed one and tied her hair back, taking out her earrings and placing them onto the dresser in front of her. She moved back to the bed and collapsed onto the comforter, curling onto her side. The shower turned off, Link’s footsteps soon coming into the bedroom. Amelia flipped over to look at him.

“Hi,” she whispered, a hand patting the space next to her. He laid down, an arm wrapping around her. She rested her head on his chest. “What time are you off tomorrow? We have to go baby shopping.” Link ran a hand through her hair.

“4. How about you?”

“2,” Amelia responded, her arm reaching to lay over his body. “Pick me up at Meredith’s? I’ll get her or Maggie to give me a ride so I can sleep.”

“Or you could take the spare key and come here.” Amelia turned to look at him. “I mean, you spend all of your time here. Do you want to move in? We’re already cleaning out my study for the nursery, why don’t you move in now, before the baby’s born?” He paused, waiting for a response. “Unless you don’t want to. Because that’s okay if you don’t. We can figure it o-”

“I’d love to, Link,” she cut him off, leaning up to kiss him. “We should really get started on the baby’s room this weekend, though.”

“Well, good thing we have the afternoon off.” She hummed in agreeance with her eyes struggling to stay open. Link kissed the top of her head on his chest, pulling the covers over them and embracing her, tighter. “I love you, Mia.”

“I love you.” Her voice was soft as she drifted to sleep, her breaths settling. He smiled down at his girlfriend before allowing himself to fall asleep

Link groaned, placing the pieces of the crib onto the ground and rubbing a hand against his forehead. “You look like you’re having an aneurysm, Link. Take a break.” He turned to Amelia in the rocking chair, hands resting on her stomach.

“It’s fine, I’ve almost got it.” She chuckled, moving out of the chair and sitting on the ground next to him.

“You’ve been working on the legs for the past hour. Let me help.” Amelia picked up the instructions, grabbing the wooden piece, and attempting to connect it to the other. “See! Just like that.” He tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. “Link, let’s go to bed. You’re tired and you’re not focused. We can do this tomorrow, or any other day.”

“Seriously, it’s fine. I just need like half an hour.” She grabbed his hands, pulling him to look at her.

“We have over a month, still. Come to bed.” He watched as she slowly got off the ground, stretching out her back and moaning. Amelia took notice of his hesitation and looked down at him with a confused face. “Link, what’s going on?”

“I guess I’m just freaking out, a little bit. This all just feels very real right now.” He laughed nervously, standing up. “I don’t know. I think I’m just realizing how little I know about all of this stuff.” She stepped closer to him, her hands reaching up to his face. 

“Okay, we have tomorrow off. So, we’ll spend the day getting things together and figuring all of this out. We have furniture but he needs clothes and a car seat and a stroller.” Link’s eyes widened.

“How much stuff does a baby need! He’s a baby!” Amelia smiled, seemingly amused by his confusion.

“It’s going to be okay. They need a lot, but it makes our lives easier. Plus, you’ll figure it all out. And I’m here to help as much as I can. I don’t know everything, either.” He nodded. “How about after we finish shopping tomorrow, you go out with Jo and get drinks or something? I’ll be fine by myself for the night, and you could use a distraction.”

“You sure? I don’t want you to be alone if anything happens.” She moved her arms to wrap around his neck.

“I’ll text you every five minutes if you’d like. But take some time to not be a terrified parent.” Amelia stood up taller, reaching up to kiss his lips. She pulled away to look into his eyes. “It’s all going to be okay, Link. We’ll figure it out. Together.”

“Okay.” He took a breath, calming down and smiling at her.

“I have to go shower. And I might leave the door open. It’d be a shame if anyone came in after me.” She winked as she walked away, heading towards the bathroom. He followed quickly after, closing the door behind them. They ended up snuggled in the bed, ‘I love you’s being whispered as they fell asleep in each other’s arms, all worries put aside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently-my school is almost done but teachers are giving a lot of work. I'll be posting more next week!  
> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! :) Thank you all for the support!


	7. #2

Amelia groaned, leaning over the toilet in the attendings’ lounge while Maggie held back her hair. “I’m dying.” She leaned against the cool wall next to her. Her eyes closed as she let out a sigh, waiting for her nausea to pass.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call Link?” Amelia shook her head slowly, her head lolling to the side.

“No, I’ll be fin-” She heaved into the toilet again. 

“You’ve been throwing up for almost half an hour, Amelia. Let’s at least get you into bed and on an IV.”

“What is going on in here?” Amelia looked up to see Meredith standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips. “You look great.” Amelia glared at her sister before throwing up once again. “I’m gonna get you a wheelchair.” Meredith left, closing the door behind her.

“Did you eat something bad?” Amelia shook her head. 

“No, I’m just dying.” Meredith returned with a wheelchair and a bedpan. Maggie and Meredith helped Amelia to stand up, her limbs doing little to support her. She slumped into the wheelchair, grabbing the bedpan and holding it like her life depended on it. “Someone go up to daycare and check on Scout. I was supposed to pick him up.” Maggie rubbed her shoulder before leaving to head to daycare. Meredith wheeled her sister into an empty room, helping her stand up and lay down on the bed. 

“I’m gonna put in an IV and take some blood.”

“Ughhh.” Meredith raised her eyebrows.

“I’m calling Link.” Amelia’s head fell back onto the pillow.

“Noo. He’s gonna freak out.”

“Amelia, you have a temperature of 104. You’re pale. You’ve been puking for over 30 minutes. You’re gonna want some company and I have surgery in an hour.” She stuck out her tongue. “Scooch over.” Meredith climbed into the hospital bed behind Amelia, wrapping her arms around her sister. “Go to sleep. You’ll feel better.”

“Mmm.”

The door opened, revealing a very concerned Link. He walked towards the bed, Meredith lifting up her head to see him. “She’s been out for about 20 minutes. She hasn’t thrown up in a while, but she’s still got a fever. Blood work will be back in an hour.” He offered her a sympathetic smile.

“Thank you for staying with her. I got it from here.” Meredith carefully removed herself from the bed, leaving an open space for Link to lay down. Amelia stirred slightly, her eyes opening to see her boyfriend’s smiling face.

“Hi,” she whispered. “I told Meredith not to worry you.” He met her eyes, moving to lay down next to her. She yawned.

“I know. But, I’m here now.” Amelia curled into him, relaxing against the familiar feeling of his body behind hers. He placed a kiss on her head. “I love you, Mia.”

“I love you.” Her voice was soft as she drifted back to sleep, Link falling asleep soon after.

Amelia woke up to find that Link wasn’t with her anymore. She opened her eyes, taking note of the darkness coming through the window. Her eyes found him, standing outside of the room with Meredith. He turned, noticing that she was awake. “Hey. How’re you feeling?” She sat up in the hospital bed. 

“Better, a little bit.” Link smiled at her, sitting at the edge of the bed. Meredith walked into the room.

“So, as I was telling Link, your flu, strep and mono are all negative. Meaning this is probably just a virus.” Amelia nodded slowly. “But, there was one thing in your blood work.” Link turned to Meredith with a confused look.

“I thought you said everything was fine?” Meredith smiled.

“Your hCG is high. You’re pregnant.” Amelia stifled a laugh.

“What?” Meredith nodded at her.

“Yup. I can page Carina, see if she can do a scan while you’re here. Other than that, you’re free to go home.”

“That’d be great. Thank you, Meredith.” She rubbed Amelia’s leg over the blanket before turning to leave the couple alone. Link leaned down to meet Amelia’s eyes. 

“You’re freaking out. Talk to me, Mia.” She took a deep breath.

“It’s just-just how the hell are we gonna do this? Scout’s only 7 months old. And he’s already a handful. Another one?” He grabbed her hand.

“It’s going to be a lot, I know that. And I also know that we can do it. Together. You don’t have to be scared, okay?” She crossed her arms.

“Would you go get Scout? He could come see his little sibling.” Link smiled at her, reaching forward to kiss her. 

“I’ll be right back.” She laughed as he ran out of the room, a hand moving down to lift up her scrub shirt. Her hand splayed over her stomach, her thumb rubbing up and down as she attempted to wrap her mind around the fact that there was another baby inside of her. The door opened soon after, Link rushing in with their son.

“Hi, Scout.” Amelia held out her arms to take the baby, laying him down on her chest. Link noticed her top was pushed up to reveal her stomach. He sat down on the side of the bed and placed his hand on her stomach. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? I’m still trying to take it in.” He laughed.

“Yeah, me too. But it’s a good thing, right? Scout can have a little sibling. I know you weren’t the closest with your siblings, but I hated being an only child. And it’ll be different. They’ll have us, forever.” She motioned for him to lay down with them, looking down at the sleeping baby on top of her. He thought to himself, ‘How did I get this lucky?’

“Family of 4.” Link wrapped an arm around her in the hospital bed, adjusting the thin sheet over their legs. His grin was uncontrollable in response to what she said, imagining their growing family.

“We’re gonna have to move. Our apartment can’t fit another baby.” His other hand rested on top of Scout, rubbing up and down the baby’s back as he slept on his mom. She leaned her head against his body and sighed. “How did we get so lucky, Link?” 

“I have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoyed this one, I really hope we get to see them have another baby on the show :)  
> I'll be updating more frequently now because my school is done early next week, so let me know if you have any requests!


	8. Care

The baby monitor rang, their son’s cries deafening through the silence of the room. “I got it,” Link said, quickly getting out of the bed to calm their son.

“Mm. Thank you.” Amelia rolled over in the bed before falling back asleep. The sleep deprivation had caught on, leading both of them to cherish every moment of rest. He walked into the nursery and met the blue eyes of his son.

“Hey, buddy. What’s wrong?” Link picked Scout up, taking note of the smell coming from the baby. “Ah, you need a diaper change!” He turned on the lamp before moving to the changing table, unbuttoning his onesie and humming softly to keep the baby calm. He’d become surprisingly good at changing diapers over the past few weeks, learning how to keep him from squirming or rolling off the surface while changing the dirty diaper. “There we go,” he whispered, picking up the small boy and rocking him around. “You have to go back to sleep, buddy. Mommy and I need to sleep. Scout cooed in his arms, reaching up towards his father’s face. Link sat down in the rocking chair. They had learned that their son enjoyed the sound of them talking, the noise calming him down quickly. Link began to ramble.

“Your mommy needs to sleep, and she can’t do that if you don’t sleep, Scout. She needs her sleep because she’s a superhero. Mommy saves lives every day. She helps people so much. You’ll understand one day when you’re older, buddy.” He placed his feet on the cushion that Amelia had insisted they needed, something he was finally coming to appreciate. “We love you so much. But, we need you to sleep.” Scout placed his fingers in his mouth. 

“I’m home with you tomorrow, but mommy needs to work. But that’s okay. It’ll be you and me, and we can watch football and snuggle on the couch and make something nice for her when she gets home. She’s working so hard, and she loves you so much. You have the best mommy ever, Scout.” Link stood up to walk around the room, waiting for the baby to fall asleep. He heard a knock on the door and turned to see Amelia. “Hey, you should be asleep.”

“I wanted to see him. And you didn’t come back.” Her eyes were tired yet happy to see her boys. “I don’t want to go to work.” He handed her their son, meeting her gaze.

“What do you mean?” She sighed, rocking back and forth.

“I mean, I missed it. I’ve only been back for a few days and it’s great to be in the OR, but I miss you guys all day. It’s so hard to be at work.” Amelia sat down in the chair, Link once again getting use out of that cushion he was confident they didn’t need.

“That’s normal, Amelia. Meredith was telling me how hard it was for her after Ellis was born. It takes time, but you’ll get used to it.” He placed a hand on her knee.

“I don’t want to get used to it. I hate not being able to see him whenever I want.” She lifted down her shirt to let him eat. “I don’t know, I just feel very protective of him and whenever I’m not with him I just get so anxious. He’s safe in daycare, and I know that, but there’s always those thoughts about ‘what if’ and I can’t shake those.” Amelia shook her head, nodding away the tears that were forming in her eyes.

“Why don’t you talk to Bailey? You can still work, but maybe just less time for a while. And when he’s older and you’re more comfortable, you can go back to your normal schedule.”

“How is it so easy for you?” He chuckled lightly.

“It’s not. I’m just good at hiding it. I check on him about 5 times during my shifts, daycare doesn’t even let me in most of those times. So I just stand outside the window and stare at him just to know he’s okay.” Scout finished eating, laying against his Mom’s chest. Link reached out to take him and put him down into his crib while she fixed her nightshirt. “Plus, you have this extra special bond with him. You carried him inside of you for almost nine months. I didn’t, so I don’t experience what you do with him.” He sat back down in front of her. “Amelia, what you’re feeling is normal. And I know it’s really hard.” Link grabbed her hands, helping her to stand up. “If you want, we can find someone for you to talk to, like someone professional.”

“Link, I don’t need to go to therapy.” They walked into the bedroom, settling onto the bed.

“Just because you don’t need it doesn’t mean it won’t help you, Amelia. If you don’t want to, it’s okay, but I can tell you’re having a really hard time.” She bit her lip, holding back tears. “And I think it’d be good for you to talk to someone other than me. Someone who can help you more.” She nodded slowly, her eyes closing as her chin quivered.

“I’ll try.” Link wrapped her into his embrace, her head settling into the crook of his neck. “I can try.” Her sniffles were audible, a few stray tears falling onto his neck.

“I’m going to be here, Amelia. Always. I’ll come and talk to Bailey with you, if you’d like. Or if you want me to come to the therapist with you, I can. Whatever makes you comfortable.” He leaned back onto the pillows, pulling her into his arms. 

“Thank you, Link.” She curled into him. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, Amelia.” His hands brushed through her hair, calming her to sleep. He listened as her breaths steadied, the soft hum of her exhale calming him down. “You’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More updates! Hope you enjoyed!  
> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :))
> 
> This story kind of took a different turn, but I think it's good to talk about mental health and destigmatize therapy so we ended up with this.


	9. Braxton Hicks

Amelia laid back into Link’s body, relaxing as the blankets covered her and his hands pushed up his t-shirt she was wearing. She rested her head in the crook of his neck as he settled his hands on her stomach, feeling the movement of their baby under his hands. “How are you feeling?” Amelia sighed.

“Still having Braxton hicks. Better though.” She placed her hands on top of his on her stomach. “Sorry I freaked out.” He laughed.

“Hey, it’s okay. I freaked out too-I was freaking out all day. I thought I was over all my fears, but I’m really not.” She groaned. “Another?”

“Mm.” He wrapped his arms around her until her body relaxed. 

“It’s a lot easier for me to be here for you when I know these are Braxton hicks-maybe when you’re in labor you shouldn’t tell me so I’ll be calm.” Amelia laughed. 

“I think this is a sign that we should get everything we need for the baby though. We still haven’t gotten a car seat or even put the crib together.” Link looked over at the box that was taking up most of the wall in his bedroom. They had decided to move into his apartment for the time being, thinking it would be enough space for their little family. 

“Yeah. I can do that tomorrow. I have the day off.” Amelia shifted in his lap to face him. 

“I have the day off too, maybe we can go shopping in the morning to get what we don’t have?” Link gave her a puzzled look. 

“How much more do we need? He has plenty of clothes and everything, I thought!” Amelia kissed him quickly, smiling at his confusion.

“Well, we didn’t get any clothes for preemies so we should probably get an outfit or two just in case.” She paused. “I know they’re just Braxton hicks, but I think it was a good warning for what we’re getting ourselves into.”

“It was funny to see the OB’s face.” Amelia interlocked their hands.

“I’m realizing how specialized I’ve become. I could barely make out what she was showing us on the ultrasound.” She winced. 

“Another? That was really close to the last one. Maybe we should call Carina.”

“No, he’s just kicking. Really hard.” Link moved her hand to where hers was resting. “Do you want to try talking to him? Meredith said it used to calm Bailey down when he would kick.” His face lit up, moving down in the bed and pushing apart her legs to lay between them.

“What do I say?” She shrugged.

“I don’t know! Just talk!”

“Hi, baby.” He looked up at Amelia to see the smile on her face. He continued. “I’m your dad. Your mom and I are really excited to meet you,” she brushed her hands through his hair. “We’re not ready for you yet, so maybe don’t come out yet. Just give us some more time to make sure we have everything you’re going to need.” He paused, his fingers tracing circles on her belly. “But now, you need to let your mom sleep. You can keep us up all night once you’re here. Mom can’t sleep unless you settle down and stop kicking her.” Link kissed her stomach. “She’s a superhero.” Amelia sat up, pulling him up to her lips and kissing him. She sniffled. “Are you crying?”

“It’s the damn hormones.” She chuckled before yawning softly, wiping a tear from her face.

“Tired?”

“Mhm.” Amelia relaxed into his body, snuggling further into him. “I love you.” He kissed the top of her head, scooching down further so that they were laying down. Link reached over to turn off the lamp,

“I love you too, Amelia.”

Link woke up the next morning, immediately noticing the absence of Amelia next to him. “Amelia?” 

“In the kitch-ah.” He jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen to see her hunched over, hands against the counter.

“Are you okay?” She winced. “Mia, what’s wrong?” She stood back up, placing a hand onto her back and the other on her stomach.

“Just more Braxton hicks. And he’s kicking hard. I was gonna make us breakfast, but he has other plans.” Link smiled, walking over to her and wrapping her up in a hug. “Did I wake you up?” He pulled away to look at her face.

“Nope.” Link kissed her forehead before grabbing the container of fruit she had taken out. “Go sit on the couch, I’ll make us breakfast.” Amelia frowned at him. He watched as she waddled over to the couch, sprawling out and grabbing the blanket she kept on the side. Link hummed to himself, mixing pancake batter as he heard the TV turn on. A few minutes later, he brought over a plate of pancakes for her. “Here.” She smiled, sitting up to allow room for him to sit behind her. 

“Thank you.” She finished her pancakes quickly, placing the plate on the coffee table in front of them. “I need to shower, but then we can go shopping?” Link smirked at her.

“I need to shower too.” She stood up, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. Amelia reached up to kiss him, her hands working to pull off his shirt. They stumbled into the bathroom before getting into the shower and taking their sweet time.

“You feeling better?” Amelia half-smiled.

“A little bit. Still having them.” Link sat down next to her on the couch and grabbed the TV remote. She leaned into his body, wrapping the blanket from the side of the couch over their bodies. “I never had Braxton hicks with Christopher. It’s weird for me.” Link paused, knowing this was sensitive for her. “It kind of worries me.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“Amelia,”

“It’s okay,” she interrupted. “It helps to talk about him. Before I kept everything inside and didn’t talk about it all. But now it’s helping.” She snuggled further into his body, letting out a deep breath. 

“I’m really proud of you, Mia. You’ve come so far even just in the short time I’ve known you.” Link kissed the top of her head. She sighed contently.

“I can’t wait to meet our baby.” Her voice was soft. Amelia reached for the remote, switching on baseball. Link’s hands rested on her stomach, rubbing soothing patterns into it.

“Baseball?” Amelia smiled.

“I’m just going to fall asleep, plus I like listening to you. You get really into it.” He laughed, his attention turning to the television in front of him.

“I love you, like a lot.”

“I love you more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you liked this chapter. It's something I started a while ago and never finished.  
> If you have any requests, let me know in the comments! I love getting comments and kudos because it means people like my writing. The support means a lot :))


	10. Sister Love

Amelia groaned as the baby kicked again, her arms reaching around her belly to rub the spot. “Baby, you have to stop kicking. I need to sleep,” she whispered. She picked up her phone to check the time.  
2:18 AM.  
She sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight due to the awake and very active baby inside of her. Amelia pulled the blanket off of the side of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling up a video to watch on her phone and take her mind off of how much she wanted to sleep.

“What’re you doing up?” Meredith walked into the living room, hands on her hips in front of Amelia.

“He won’t stop kicking and moving around, I can’t sleep. I didn’t want to wake Link up with my groans so I came down here. He has a morning shift.” Meredith sat down on the couch near Amelia. “What about you?”

“I don’t have work tomorrow, and I can’t sleep anyways.” Amelia set her phone down.

“Is this about Andrew? Or Alex?” Meredith shrugged. “You don’t have to talk about it, it’s okay.”

“How’s it going with Link? I mean, you’re obviously back together, but I feel like I haven’t really talked with you that much recently. What happened?” The neurosurgeon sat up on the couch, pulling one of her legs up to rub her sore feet.

“He came over, there was a whole long speech in the rain about how he loves me, and then we opened the test results. The baby’s his.” Meredith let out a sigh.

“Okay, because I was really worried about the baby being Owen’s and all the drama that would come with that.” Amelia laughed. She smiled over at her sister.

“I’m probably going to move out soon. I just wanted to let you know.”

“Yeah, I figured. We’re gonna miss you. Especially Ellis.” 

“I know, I’ll miss you guys too. But, Link and I need more space. And I don’t want to put you all through having a newborn in the house. The kids would never get sleep.” Meredith stood up, wrapping her robe around her body.

“I’m gonna get some tea, do you want some?” Amelia nodded.

“That’d be great, thank you.” She watched as her sister headed towards the kitchen, making cups of tea for the two. She returned a few minutes later with some steaming mugs.

“Wanna come upstairs to my room? It’ll be comfier than the couch, and we’re both obviously not going to sleep anytime soon.” Amelia smiled and slowly stood up, hands settling onto her back to support the weight of her stomach. Meredith motioned for her to go in front. “You’re waddling.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m so ready to not be pregnant anymore” Meredith laughed.

“Yeah, I’m glad I’m done with that. But everything will be worth it when he’s here. You’ll have a baby, and that’s one of the best things in the world.” Amelia pushed open the bedroom door and laid down onto the bed, taking the mug from her sister. “The only thing I miss about that is holding a newborn in my arms. I’m gonna steal him from you all the time.” She settled down, adjusting the pillows behind her. Amelia nursed the cup between her hands.

“If you can pry him out of Link’s arms. He’s really excited. Like, more than me. It’s almost concerning.” Meredith grinned.

“Well yeah, because he gets to have this perfect little creature in his arms without having to give birth. All he has to do is hold your hand and look pretty, and then he gets a baby!” Amelia smiled, shifting uncomfortably as the baby kicked her again.

“I had a baby before.” Meredith’s head jerked to the side, looking Amelia in the eyes. “Uh, almost 8 years ago.”

“What?” Her voice was riddled with confusion.

“When I was living in LA. He was born with anencephaly.” She reached for Amelia’s hand, noticing the sadness on her face. “I didn’t really tell anyone. But, I’m finally learning to talk about it.” She let out a sigh, sniffling to hold back tears. 

“Amelia,” 

“That’s why Owen and I never had kids. I was too scared.” Amelia interrupted, pausing for a moment to look up at the ceiling and will her tears to go away. “Even when I found out I was pregnant, I was terrified. But Link’s been amazing, he’s always there for me.” Meredith pulled her into a hug.

“I didn’t know. I’m so sorry, Amelia.” Amelia wiped a tear away. “Did Owen know?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he really understood it all. The grief and all my feelings about having another baby. But after Leo and Betty, I felt better about it all. I learned that another baby wouldn’t take him away from me.” Meredith offered her a sad smile.

“You know, I had a miscarriage once. I know it’s not the same thing, but I was terrified then. I can’t even imagine.” Amelia leaned back into the pillows behind her, pulling the covers up over her legs.

“I think the weirdest thing is all the things about pregnancy I never experienced last time. Like, he didn’t really kick. There were the sparse, random movements but none of it was him consciously moving or anything. And now, this little guy only wants to kick his way out of my stomach.” Meredith laughed softly.

“Did he have a name? Your baby?” Her voice was soft, careful not to push too far.

“His name was Christopher. The happy part is that he donated all his organs, so a bunch of other babies got to live because of him.” She took another sip of the tea before placing it back onto the nightstand. “I never told Derek about him. Which makes me sad now, because he never knew about his nephew.”

“Derek would be so proud of you, Amelia. You’ve come so far.” Amelia looked over at her with glossy eyes. 

“You think?”

“I know. You really were his favorite sister.” The neurosurgeon laughed through her tears.

“I mean, compared to my other sisters, I’m not that bad.” Meredith chuckled, drinking the last of her tea.

“They keep texting me about you. I’ve been deflecting their questions, though.”

“Yeah, they keep reaching out to me, too. I think my mom made them feel bad for what happened in New York, and Liz is sad she wasn’t there to witness it.” She lifted up her shirt to expose her belly, pointing to a spot where her baby was moving. “He does this all the time.” Amelia groaned, her head laying back onto the pillow. “I’m so tired, and he’s not even born yet. I doubt I’ll get any sleep when he’s here.”

“Have you guys come up with a name yet?” Amelia let out a sigh.

“No, we can’t agree on anything. We’re not ready at all.”

“It wouldn’t be parenthood if you were.” Meredith plugged her phone into the charger on her bedside table, turning back over to see Amelia yawning. “You should try and sleep, though. You can stay here.” Amelia smiled at her, sinking down into the covers.

“Thank you, Mer.” She switched off the lamp before settling herself. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Amelia. Sleep well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like we never really got to see Amelia and Meredith's relationship in 16B, and we never saw a scene of Amelia telling Meredith about Christopher. This is kinda messy but it helped my writer's block.  
> Let me know if you enjoyed! Comments and kudos help motivate me :)))  
> Thank you for the support!


	11. Sleep

She laid her head against the doorframe, watching as her boyfriend filled out some charts. He looked up to see her standing there. “Hey,” he held out his hand for her to come over to him.

“Hi,” she stood in front of him, their hands meeting as he set the device down. “How much longer do you have?” Link shrugged.

“A few more charts to go through. Nico got behind and I told him I’d help out.” She pouted at him. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just hormonal. I want cuddles and we can’t do that until you’re done.” He pulled her down.

“You can sit in my lap until I’m done working.” Amelia sat down across his lap, pulling her legs up to lay over the arm of the chair. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she sighed contently. “How was your day?”

“Long. I missed you.” She snuggled into his chest. “How was yours?” Link picked the tablet back up, continuing to type into the charts.

“Pretty slow. Mostly checking on post-ops.” The door was pushed open as Nico stuck his head in.

“Hey, Mrs. Perez is good. I’m discharging her.” Link nodded, a smile on her face as he noticed Amelia was asleep in his lap.

“Thanks, Nico. You can head out, I’ll finish up here.” Nico stepped forward.

“You sure? If you want to go home and rest, I can finish up the charts. Shepherd looks like she wants to go home.” Link looked down at her girlfriend and nodded. “Is she okay? She’s been sick a lot.” He had to be careful, they hadn’t told everyone about her pregnancy and he knew Amelia wouldn’t want him telling Nico while she was asleep. Link brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Yeah, she’ll be okay. Just a rough week.” Nico moved to sit down in the chair across from the desk.

“So, the end of my fellowship is coming up,” Link looked up, confusion spread across his face. Nico continued. “And I’m wondering if I need to be looking around for other jobs.”

“No, no way. We’d love to have you here. I mean, we’d have to talk to Bailey but I’m sure she’ll want you as an attending at Grey-Sloan. Plus, I’m gonna need you here in the future.” Nico’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Link shook his head, careful not to say anything.

“Just that I don’t want you leaving. I don’t know what’s in store for me and my future, but I want to have my star student here with me.” Amelia stirred in his lap, waking up and slowly taking in her surroundings. She sat up, offering Nico a small wave. “I’m good to head home, Mia. Nico will finish.” Amelia smiled at his fellow, yawning softly.

“Thank you.” She stood up as he handed the device over to the other man, wrapping an arm around Amelia’s waist and guiding her out of the office.

“Have you had dinner yet?” She shook her head. “Okay. We’ll go to my place and pick up some pizza on the way home?” Amelia looked up at him, a grin spreading across her face.

“Pepperoni!” He laughed. Amelia leaned up to kiss him before laying her head against his shoulder as they walked.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

He pulled into the lot, noticing Amelia was asleep in the passenger seat of the car. Link smiled before waking her up. “Hey, Mia. We’re here.” She looked up in confusion before stretching. He grabbed the pizza and opened her door, holding out a hand for her to take. Amelia stood up, using his arm to stable herself before he wrapped his arm around her body. They walked up the stairs to his apartment. He handed the box to Amelia, pulling out his key to unlock the door. Link pushed it open, allowing Amelia to surge forward to flop onto the couch in the middle of the living room, groaning as she felt the release of tension in her back. He placed the pizza box on the coffee table, sitting down by her feet. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“I would say no, but Carina was bugging me about drinking more water.” Link chuckled as he stood up, moving to grab her a glass of water. “What do you want to watch?” He shrugged and handed her the cup.

“I don’t care, you can pick.” Amelia sat up on the couch and grabbed the TV remote, opening Netflix. 

“We haven’t finished ‘You’ yet.” She turned on the show. “There’s still another season.” She opened the box, pulling out a slice of pizza and sighing as she tasted the pepperoni. Amelia moved to unbutton her pants, letting her body relax into the couch. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Link shrugged, pulling her feet over his lap and grabbing a slice himself.

“You’re ridiculous.” She pushed his shoulder lightly.

“I have been thinking about pepperoni all day. It’s your fault anyway, you’re the one who impregnated me.” Link opened his mouth to respond before being cut off by Amelia. “Shhh! The show’s starting.” He simply laughed and turned his attention to the screen, any worries he had thought throughout the day leaving as he settled into the calm of the room around him.

By the time the episode finished, the pizza box was empty and Amelia was sprawled out over the couch. Her head lay in his lap as his hands ran through her hair. “You ready for bed?” She shook her head.

“Nah, I just wanna stay here for a minute, with you.” The neurosurgeon took his hand, placing it on top of her stomach. “With both of you.” Link was unable to control the smile that spread across his face.

“I love you, a lot.” She scrunched her nose.

“I love you.” Silence settled between the two for a while, before Amelia quickly fell asleep. Link moved to stand up, lifting Amelia into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom bridal style. He laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers over his figure before settling down next to her. He soon fell asleep, the calming atmosphere of the room allowing him to settle down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay :P  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> I've been dealing with a lot of writer's block recently, so I made a list of writing prompts that I found online and am using some of those as starters for chapters. Hopefully I'll be having more chapters out in the coming days!


	12. Friends

Amelia sat on the couch, her phone weighing heavy in her hand. She sighed as her finger hovered over the call button, almost scared to press it.

“What are you doing?” Link came up behind her, his hands rubbing her shoulders. Amelia groaned at the relief of the tension she was holding in her upper body. 

“I wanna call Addison. Uh, Derek’s ex-wife.” Link moved to sit down next to her. “She’s like an older sister to me.” 

“Okay?” She could tell he was confused.

“She was there for me, with Christopher. And I haven’t told her I’m pregnant.” Amelia gestured to her growing belly, clearly visible under her t-shirt. “And I should. But I can’t bring myself to press the call button.” He grabbed her hand.

“Do you feel guilty? That you didn’t tell her?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess. Also, telling Addison means that she’s going to tell everyone down there, and that means a million different calls and texts.”

“You have the day off. I know you don’t want to, but it’s the best day to do it.” Amelia threw her head back onto the cushion and groaned dramatically. He picked up his phone, checking the time. “I gotta head out. But call her, Mia.” Link stood up, dropping a kiss onto her lips before heading towards the door. “I love you, be home later.” She waved goodbye. Her attention dropped back to the phone in her hands. She pressed the call button, putting it on speaker and placing the device onto the coffee table. The rings sounded through her ears before the line picked up.

“Hello? Amelia?” She gasped at the sound of Addison’s voice.

“Hey, Addie.”

“It’s been so long! How are you?” Amelia picked at her nails, hoping to ebb away her anxiety.

“That’s actually why I called, uh, I have some news.” There was a sigh through the phone.

“Good or bad news? Oh, are you and the trauma surgeon together? What’s his name, Owen?” The brunette laughed.

“No, I’m dating someone else. His name is Link and he’s an ortho surgeon.” Amelia paused. “He’s amazing. He’s like the nicest guy ever, and we’re having a baby.”

“What?”

“Yeah, uh, I’m 22 weeks along. I know I should’ve called earlier, but I was scared.” She gulped. “It’s a boy, and he’s completely healthy. Which feels like a miracle.” 

“Amelia! I’m so happy for you! Can we come to visit when he’s born?”

“I-yeah, I guess so. Oh, and if you’re going to tell everyone at the practice, can you make sure they take shifts in calling me? I can only do one at a time.” Addison laughed through the phone, the noise of a door opening in the background.

“Oh, I have to go. Jake’s here. But call me later! I love you, Amelia!” Amelia said goodbye to her sister, hanging up the phone. She let out a sigh of relief and flopped back onto the couch. She pulled up her shirt, exposing her belly and letting the cool air of the apartment running over her bump. Her hand splayed over the skin, her thumb rubbing small circles on the top of her belly.

“Hey, baby. Apparently I’m supposed to talk to you, Carina said it’s good for you to hear my voice. Your dad is better at this than I am, I don’t know what to say to you-” She was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Amelia reached over to grab it, seeing Charlotte’s name on the screen. “Hey, Charlotte.”

“You’re having a baby!” Amelia laughed at the sound of her friend’s voice, she had almost forgotten about her friend’s heavy accent.

“Yeah, I am.” For the rest of the day, Amelia spoke with each of her former coworkers, and her best friends. 

Link pushed open the door, hearing Amelia’s laughs ringing through the apartment. He raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, Link! Yes, Violet, this is him. Come say hi! This is my friend Violet.” He walked into the bedroom and sat down onto the bed.

“Hey, Violet.” Amelia pulled the phone away, placing it onto her ear and laughing at her friend’s response. Link smiled at his girlfriend, happy with her reaction. He placed a hand on her knee, gaining Amelia’s attention for a second. “Dinner?” She paused, thinking for a moment.

“Oo, how about...Chinese?” Link nodded, standing up to grab his phone.

“I’ll be back. Bye, Mia.”

“Bye Link! I love you!” Her attention shifted back to the conversation on the phone. “Yeah, he’s amazing.” Link smirked as he walked out, her laughs and exclamations fading in volume while he locked the front door.

He returned soon after with food in his arms, entering into a quiet apartment. Link padded into the bedroom, noticing her sprawled out over the bed, a hand on her stomach, and light snores coming from her mouth. He moved into the kitchen and took out the containers. He placed the food into the fridge, knowing she would be out for a little while. Humming softly, Link walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, washing the day’s work off of his body. He changed into pajamas, walking out to see Amelia watching TV in the living room. “Hey, sleepyhead. I’ll grab the food.” She smiled at him. Link put the containers in the microwave, heating them up before bringing it out to the couch.

“Thank you.” He sat down by her feet.

“So, I’m assuming it went well?” Amelia nodded as she ate.

“I don’t know why I was so scared. I mean, I spent the whole day on calls with them all, but they’re all really happy.” She took a bite of her food and laid her legs over his lap. “Addison and Jake are going to come and visit us like right after he’s born, and the rest of them will stagger their visits so we’re not overwhelmed.” Link’s mouth was open, clearly confused by her rambling.

“How many people are we talking?” She lolled her head back and forth to think.

“Addison and Jake will come together, they have Henry too. Then there’s Charlotte, Cooper and their 4 kids. Violet might come with them, too. Or with Sheldon. And then Naomi and Sam.” Amelia noticed his expression. “Oh, don’t worry. They’re all going to love you.” She placed emphasis on the word love, grabbing his hand across the couch. He chuckled nervously.

“I think I’m more worried about dealing with a newborn and all of your friends.”

“They’ll steal him all the time. You should be more worried about never seeing him.” Link shook his head and sighed. 

“Okay.” Amelia leaned over to kiss him.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I was inspired to write this because of the Private Practice reunion podcast that they did. Seeing all of them together made me kinda sad that we never got any scenes of Amelia telling them or interacting with them, all of her LA friends were the ones there for her during her first pregnancy.  
> Let me know if you have any suggestions! I'll be updating some other stories soon, too.  
> Thank you for the continued support, it really means the world.


	13. Labor

Amelia moaned, rolling over in the bed in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure on her abdomen. Not feeling any relief and not wanting to wake up the man beside her, she stood up to get some water and lay on the couch. Time passed in silence between the contractions that she was feeling.

“Mia? Why’d you come down here?” She looked up to see her boyfriend standing in the doorway with a concerned expression on his face. 

“I’m sorry I’m just in a lot of pain right now and I didn’t want to wake you up.” He kneeled beside her on the couch. 

“Always wake me up. It’s what I’m here for. What hurts?” He grabbed her hand. 

“I’m having Braxton Hicks, I think. I’ve been having them all day. It just hurts like hell.”

“What can I do? Heating pad?” Before she had a chance to respond, he was moving to grab it. She let out a cry as another contraction hit. “Okay, Amelia. Are you sure these are Braxton Hicks?”

“I do-Ah!” Amelia gripped the side of the couch for a moment before relaxing her body. “I don’t know Link.” He ran back in with the heating pad, placing it on her stomach. “It hurts.”

“I’m gonna time them, okay? And we can call Carina if we need to, okay? Just breathe, Amelia. I’m right here. You’re not alone.” He made eye contact with her glossy eyes. “Oh, Mia. I know.” He engulfed her in a hug as she began to break into sobs, holding her there for a while. “Shhh. It’s all going to be okay. Even if this is labor, you’re 37 weeks and he’s been healthy at every checkup.”

“I don’t think I can do this, Link.” He grabbed her hand. “I don-.” She stopped as her body tensed. Link sat with her in the dark, holding her hand and comforting her to the best of his ability.

“Okay, Amelia. That was only 8 minutes from the last one. I’m gonna call Carina.” As soon as she relaxed, he picked up his phone to dial the doctor. “Hey, Carina. Amelia’s having some contractions, they’re 8 minutes apart right now. She’s in a lot of pain. No, I don’t think her water broke. “She shook her head. “No, it hasn’t. Okay. We’ll see you soon.” He set his phone down. “She wants us to come in, just to check. I’ll go get the hospital bag, okay? Take your time, Amelia.” Link jumped up to run to their baby’s room as Amelia stood up slowly. 

“Link!” She yelled as she stood up. He dashed back into the living room with the bag in hand, concern spread across his face. He noticed her laughing.

“What? Are you okay?” She took a breath.

“My water just broke.” Link’s eyes widened. “This is happening. It’s really happening. We’re having a baby, like today.” He moved towards her, grabbing her hand. 

“Okay,” his voice trembled, “let’s get going, then.” They walked outside, getting into the car. Amelia slowly sat down, breathing heavily. He drove as fast as he safely could, looking over to check on her at every possible moment. She gasped. “Another?” She nodded slowly, breathing out and squeezing his hand over the console. “We’re almost there.” They soon pulled into the ambulance bay, Link getting out of the car and running to grab a wheelchair for her. He watched with concern as she wearily lowered herself into the chair. The couple was met by Teddy at the door of the E.R.

“What’s going on? Are you okay, Amelia?” Her hands wrapped around her stomach, letting out another breath.

“Uh, she’s in labor. Carina knows we’re coming.” Teddy motioned them inside, moving into a trauma room. 

“Okay, she’s been paged. I’ll leave you a gown to change into. Carina will be here shortly.” The brunette nodded, grasping Link’s hand for stability as she stood up. He helped her get undressed, changing into the thin hospital gown and wiping some of the sweat off her forehead.

“We’re really having a baby today, Link. He’s coming today.” Link nodded at her with a grin across his face. 

“Yeah, we’re having a baby today.” Carina walked through the doors, greeting the couple. “Her water broke just as we were leaving.”

“Oh, good! I’m going to check you out now, and then we will move you to a room, okay?” Amelia nodded. Carina pulled the ultrasound machine out, unbuttoning the side of Amelia’s gown so she could run the ultrasound. “Ah, yes. Baby definitely wants to come out!” Amelia smiled nervously. “Okay, can I examine you?” She nodded as Carina sat down to examine her. “You’re 5 centimeters, so you still have a while. Let’s get you up to a room.” The OB stood up, rubbing Amelia’s knee in comfort. “The nurse will take you in a minute.”

“Thank you, Carina.” Link turned back to his girlfriend. “Do you want me to get you anything?” She shook her head.

“No, can you just text Mer and Maggie and let them know? I promised I would tell them when it’s time.” He smiled at her, leaning down to kiss her softly.

“Okay.” Link grabbed his phone and texted the two other doctors before the nurse walked into the room.

“Hi, Dr. Shepherd. I’ll take you up to the OB floor now, okay?” Amelia slowly stood up and sat into the wheelchair, allowing the nurse to push her and lead her into a hospital room. They thanked the nurse. Link helped her move into the bed, setting the bag down onto the chair. She groaned as another contraction hit, squeezing his hand tightly.

“Okay, Mia. Sit up.” She looked at him with confusion before complying, letting Link slide in behind her to hold her. “Relax, I’ve got you.” Amelia sighed in content, leaning into his embrace. 

“Thank you, Link.” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you so much.” 

“I love you.” Her body relaxed as the pain passed. “Don’t worry, just a few hours and then we’ll have our baby boy.”

“I know, I can’t wait to see him.” Amelia laid her head into the crook of his neck. “A family of three.” He laughed.

“A family of three.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Here's another chapter.  
> Have a great day!


	14. Family

Amelia sighed, placing her hand on her back as she stretched, letting out a small moan. Link walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her quickly. “I’ll get the bag, you got him?” Amelia smiled at him. She grabbed the car seat, watching as the baby stirred slightly. Link opened the door for them. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Still really sore. And tired. But I’m also still in complete shock that we have a baby that we created.” Link set the bag down, sitting next to his two favorite people on the couch. Amelia began to unbuckle the little boy from his car seat, embracing him for a second. “I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to put him down.” Link smiled at her. 

“Do you want anything to eat?” He lifted the car seat, placing it on the floor.

“Nah. I just want to sit here with my boys for a little bit.” Amelia laid her head on Link’s shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, his head resting against hers. “I love you. Both of you.” He kissed the top of her head.

“I love you. More.” After a long period of silence, Amelia’s phone rang. Link picked it up, staring at the screen. “It’s your mom.” Amelia furrowed her eyebrows. She hesitantly picked up the phone, handing the sleeping baby to Link.

“Mom?” Link could barely make out what her mom was saying as she rambled. “Uh I’m good. I’m with Link right now.” She turned to him. “My mom says hi.”

“Hi Mrs. Shepherd.” Amelia picked the phone back up.

“I mean, if you want.” It was at that moment that Scout began to wail, stirring in Link’s arms. He quickly stood up to rock the baby, Amelia’s eyes widening at the sound of his cries. “Oh uh, that’s our son. Link and I had a baby. I know. He’s 2 days old now, his name is Scout. Yeah. Oh-okay. Okay. Yup.” Link raised his eyebrows, Amelia rolling her eyes in response. “Okay. I’ll let you know. Love you too. Bye.” She let out her breath. “My mom wants to come and visit us.” Link shifted Scout, still trying to settle his cries. “Let me try and feed him.” She took the baby, lifting up her shirt to feed her son. He quickly latched on to eat. 

“You’re amazing.” She tilted her head to look at Link. 

“Why?”

“Well first, you carried this baby for almost 9 months and now your body is feeding him. And I’m just here.” Amelia laughed. 

“You’re my emotional support. My gravity blanket.” Link bent down, placing a soft kiss on her lips. 

“When is your mom coming? Maybe we could invite my parents down too.” He settled back down next to Amelia on the couch.

“She’s thinking next week. She has nothing else to do.” After finishing eating, Scout’s blue eyes looked up at his mom before slowly closing. Their voices turned into a whisper. “I think it’s good, though. I want my family to be in his life, he’ll have a whole village of people.” Amelia sighed. “You should call your parents.”

“Yeah, I haven’t even told them he was born, yet.” She turned around to stare at him, her eyes wide. “What! I was focused on you two.” She giggled, reaching out to grab his phone and hand it to him. 

“Facetime them.” He groaned, opening up his mom’s contact on his phone. “If I have to tell my mom, you have to tell your parents.” He pressed the facetime button. The call picked up after a few rings, his mother’s smiling face appearing on the screen.

“Hey, Mom.” Link moved the camera so he and Amelia were in the frame. “Grab Dad, will you?” She nodded and called out for Eric, who joined shortly after.

“What’s going on?” Amelia smiled at the sound of his mother’s voice, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms.

“We have a baby.” He moved the camera, showing his parents the small boy. They gasped, expressing their admiration for their grandson. “His name is Scout.”

“Scout Lincoln,” Amelia butted in, glancing at the picture of their little family in the corner of the screen.

“He’s adorable! Oh, he’s so cute!” Conversation floated in the call as the grandparents requested constant calls and pictures. 

“So, Amelia’s mom is coming out to visit next week. I know it’s last minute, but you guys could come, too. We don’t know exactly when, we’ll let you know.” Amelia laid her head back onto his shoulder as the baby woke up from the noise. His eyes opened, scanning the room around him.

“Of course! We’d love to.” After promises to update with information, the call ended, leaving the room in their apartment silent.

“See! It wasn’t that bad.” He kissed the top of her head.

“I know. We should be more worried for when they’re all visiting next week.” Link opened his texts, sending some of the many pictures that he had taken over the past 2 days to his parents. “Give me your phone. I’ll send your mom some photos, too.” Amelia handed it to him. He unlocked the phone, texting some pictures to her mom. “Can I send some to your sisters, too?”

“I haven’t told them yet.” He shrugged.

“Okay, we’ll write out a text.” He removed his arm from behind Amelia to text more easily. Vocalizing his typing, he began to write, “Hey, guys. This is Link, Amelia’s boyfriend, texting. We wanted to let you all know about something important.” He paused. “We had a baby 2 days ago. His name is Scout. I know that we haven’t been the best at staying in touch, but we’d really like that to change so that you all can be a part of his life.” 

“Send it. It’s now or never.” He did, attaching a photo he had taken of Amelia and the baby.

“Look at us, being good family members.” She laughed softly, an uncontrollable smile spreading on both of their faces.

“Thank you, for making me reach out.” Her phone began to buzz, texts from her sisters and mother with a million questions.

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo! This one is a bit messy but I figured I'd post it anyways. Hope you enjoy it! Comments and kudos are always appreciated :D


	15. Self-Care

Link sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand. Nico stood in the doorway, looking at the exhaustion of his boss. “You okay?” Link shook his head, attempting to wake himself up.

“Yeah, Amelia’s just not doing well.” Nico sat down across from him.

“She’s been sick a lot lately. Is she okay?” Link crossed his arms and kicked his feet up onto the desk.

“Yeah, she’ll be okay. Just some stuff.” Nico nodded and stood up, moving to leave the room. “Hey, Nico. Come back.” Confusion was spread across his face as he headed back towards the desk. “Uh, are you planning on staying at Grey-Sloan? Like, after your fellowship?” Nico shrugged.

“I haven’t really thought about it, but that’s the plan for now. Why?”

“I might need to take some time off. In the future.” He could sense Nico’s furthered confusion. Link let out a breath. “It’s Amelia. She’s pregnant, we’re having a baby.”

“Oh man, congrats!” Link smiled tiredly. 

“She’s just having a really rough time. Pregnancy symptoms are just hitting her really hard, I guess.” Nico tilted his head, he had never seen Link like this. “And I just feel so useless. I mean, she’s up all night, sick, in pain, and all I can do is just sit there and hold her. I can’t make her feel better. I just want to take away her pain.” He laughed softly. “I’ve never felt so helpless.” He took a deep breath in. “So I’m gonna need you to step up. I know it’s more than your fellowship entails, but I need to take a step back, starting soon.”

“Of course.” Nico stood up before continuing. “And for the record, you’re going to be an amazing dad.” Link looked down at the floor, a smile on his face.

“Thank you.” The other man nodded.

“Although, I never pictured you settling down. Shepherd really got you.” Link laughed.

“She really did.”

Nico walked into the lounge, noticing Amelia laying on the couch. “Hey, have you seen Link?” She sat up in his presence.

“Uh, he got called into a trauma. He should be done soon.” She offered him a small smile before laying back down, her hand moving to rest on her forehead.

“Are you okay?” Her head tilted to the side to look at him.

“Just feeling a little sick, that’s all.” He filled his coffee cup, taking a sip before setting it down on the table and sitting in a chair across from her.

“Link told me. About the baby.” Amelia’s face tightened. “He really cares about you, you know?” She nodded slowly.

“I know.” She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to stop tears from flowing. “I just need my first trimester to be done so I won’t be sick anymore.” He watched as she glanced up to the ceiling. “I feel terrible. I know he doesn’t sleep, he just worries about me. I tell him to sleep, but he’s just so worried that he won’t relax.” She looked back over at him. “I don’t know what to do.” The door opened, Link bursting through it.

“Hey, sorry. I’m here now.” He ran over to Amelia, kneeling down at her side. It wasn’t until he noticed her expression that he saw Nico. “Oh, hey Nico.” The fellow offered him a wave, standing up and picking up his coffee.

“Alright, I’m going to head out. Bye, guys.” Link grabbed Amelia’s hand.

“What was that about?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“He seemed worried about you. I’m worried about you.” Her hand moved to lay on his cheek. “You need to be taking care of yourself, Link. You’re not sleeping.” He smiled.

“I’m fine, Amelia. I need to make sure that you,” a hand moved to lay on her stomach, “and our baby are okay.”

“Link-”

“Let’s go home, okay?” He interrupted, standing up with an arm outstretched. She sighed and took it, wearily walking out of the hospital with him.

The car ride to Meredith’s was silent, the previous conversation weighing down Amelia’s thoughts. They slipped into their normal routine, Amelia flopping onto the bed and changing into one of his t-shirts while he got unready himself. He settled under the covers, holding his arm out for her to rest on. She sighed and schooched towards him.

“What’s wrong, Amelia?” Her head lifted to rest on his chest, staring him in the eyes.

“Link, I’m worried about you. You spend so much time worrying about me that you don’t look after yourself.” He tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. “I’m fine, Link. So is our baby. I know I’m sick a lot, but it’s normal. Carina said everything was fine.”

“Amelia, you’re overreacting.” She sat up in the bed.

“No, I’m not!” Her voice was sad, almost as if she was on the verge of tears. Silence sank in the room as she bit her lip. “Nico’s worried about you. Maggie even asked me if you had slept the other morning because you looked so exhausted.” He raised his eyebrows at her. Amelia took a breath, regaining her calm. “Link, I need you to take care of yourself. It’s only going to get more difficult when we actually have a baby keeping us up all night, and you need to learn that it’s okay to put you and your mental state first.” His face was still while he looked at her.

“Okay, fine. I’ll admit that I haven’t been sleeping as much as I should. But you’re sick all the time, Amelia. And you don’t talk to me. I just lay here and hold you while you cry until you tire yourself out and fall asleep. I don’t know how you’re really feeling.” Link sat up against the headboard to face her directly. “Amelia, I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight with you.” He held her hands.

“I don’t want to fight, either.” She rushed forward into his embrace, letting out a sob as his arms wrapped around her. 

“So, I promise that I will start to look after myself more. And you promise to talk to me more?” She pulled away, nodding. 

“I’m sorry Link. I just can’t stand to see you like this.” She caressed his face, grounding herself in his eyes. “But I have to be able to tell you this. If this is going to work, we need to be able to be honest with each other.” 

“I know.” Amelia leaned forward to kiss him, resting his forehead against his afterwards. “Okay, so this taking care of myself thing starts with sleep, right?” She opened her eyes.

“Yeah,” her whisper was barely heard as he slid down the bed, pulling the covers over them. “Thank you for listening, Link.”

“Thank you for being honest with me.” She slid an arm across his chest. “Goodnight, Amelia.” He didn’t receive a verbal response, just the soft sounds of her breaths settling. The last thing he remembered before falling into a deep sleep was his soft whisper of, “I love you,” knowing that he meant it with everything he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in posting. I originally started writing this as a Nico/Amelia friendship chapter, but it kinda took a different turn. It a bit weird, but I figured I'd post it anyways so you have something. Let me know if you have any prompts or suggestions for the future!


	16. Marriage

Amelia threw her head onto the table, groaning dramatically. “I mean, when is he going to propose!” She flailed her arms out as she spoke to emphasize her point. “I hate to sound like that girl, but when is he going to propose!” Maggie sat down at the table across from her as Meredith laughed. 

“Have you two talked about getting married?” Maggie asked kindly. Amelia sighed.

“No,” Meredith chuckled at her sister’s response, “but we’re basically tied together for life anyways, so I don’t know why he wouldn’t propose.” Amelia noticed Meredith’s face, raising her eyebrows to question the expression residing on the general surgeon’s face. “What?”

“Okay, so if you haven’t talked about getting married then you can’t expect him to propose. He probably thinks you don’t want to get married anyways because of what happened with Owen.”

“We’re basically already married, but we’re not. It’s the next step, you know? I thought he was going to do it last week. We went to dinner and then drove to a field to watch the sunset. And he was quiet the whole time and I thought he was nervous about proposing. But he didn’t.” The brunette tied her hair back. “What if he doesn’t want to get married? I mean, his parents had a messy divorce and maybe he doesn’t want to put Scout through that. Not that we would get divorced-”

“Amelia, why don’t you just propose to him?” Meredith’s voice was snarky, her annoyance clearly present as she interrupted. Amelia glared at her sister. “What? I’m genuinely asking.” Amelia opened her mouth to respond as the door opened, revealing Owen standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Owen,” Amelia said with a laugh, standing up. “I have to go.” She walked out quickly.

“What was that about?” Owen questioned.

“Nothing,” Meredith and Maggie responded, leaving the room at the same time.

Jo threw her lunch tray onto the table in front of her, noticing Link’s blank stare. “You good?” He snapped out of his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah, just thinking.” Link’s voice was soft. Jo raised her eyebrows in confusion. He sighed. “Do you think Amelia wants to get married? We haven’t really talked about it, but I want to marry her. I just don’t know if she’s there yet. Or if she wants to be married.” 

“Sounds like something you need to talk to Shepherd about.” He rolled his eyes at her. “If you’re trying to figure out if your girlfriend wants to get married, wouldn’t the best person to ask be your girlfriend?”

“What is Link asking his girlfriend?” Meredith said as she sat down at the table, taking a bite of her food.

“Link doesn’t know if Amelia wants to get married or not. And I told him,” Jo pointed at him from across the table, “to talk to her.” Meredith laughed.

“Jo! You can’t tell everyone!” Jo shrugged in response, clearly unbothered by sharing the information.

“Oh, you people. I told Amelia the same thing.” Link’s head shot up at the sound of Meredith’s voice, his eyes widening.

“What? What did Amelia say?” Meredith picked up her tray.

“We’re not in high school, Link. Go talk to your girlfriend.” The general surgeon stood up, walking away in annoyance. He looked over to Jo, searching for something to read on her face.

“She’s right, you know. Talk to Amelia!” Jo left the table, leaving Link alone with his head in his hands.

Their car ride home was silent, both of them thinking about their conversations from earlier that day. Amelia sat in the back to deal with Scout’s fussing. Link pulled into the driveway while she helped the baby out of his carseat and rested him on her hip. When he was asleep, Amelia walked into the living room to see Link on the couch watching baseball. “Link?” He looked up. “Can we talk?” He patted the cushion next to him and turned the TV off. She sat down, tucking her leg under her body.

“About?”

“Do you want to get married? I was talking to Meredith and Maggie, and Meredith pointed out that I should talk to you about it.” Amelia seemed nervous, something Link wasn’t used to. He turned to her, grabbing her hands.

“Meredith said the same thing to me,” he said while laughing. Amelia tilted her head to the side.

“Wait, so you were talking to Meredith about it too?” 

“I was talking to Jo and then Meredith came over and got involved, but yeah.” He took a moment to process their conversation before continuing. “So you want to get married?” She nodded quickly.

“Yes, of course, I just didn’t know if you wanted to. You know, everything with your parents. But I love you and I want to be your wife, Link. We’re already tied together for life anyways.” Amelia grinned at him. “You want to get married?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to.” Link breathed out a laugh. 

“We seem to be really bad at communicating.” He leaned over to kiss her, her arms wrapping around his neck. 

“Yeah, we do,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. He pulled away. “Okay, so do I need to plan a whole thing? Cause I can, but I need time.” 

“No.”

“No?” His voice was riddled with confusion.

“No, I mean we both want to get married and we just talked about it. Why do we need to have a big thing? We’re not those people.” Link paused.

“Hold on. Stay here.” Link stood up, practically running down the hallway into the bedroom. Amelia could hear a drawer open and slam close before he returned. “I got this a little bit ago and I’ve been saving it.” He stood in front of her, a box in his hand. She laughed as he kneeled down, a hand resting on her knee. “Amelia Shepherd,” he opened the box, revealing a small yet beautiful ring. “For the sake of formalities, will you marry me?” She smiled widely, pulling his face up to her.

“Yes. A million times yes.” They kissed, happy to celebrate their new engagement. Link pulled away to take the ring out of the box and slide it onto her finger.

“I stole some of your jewelry to get the size right. I hope you like it.” She wiped her eyes.

“I love it. You’re ridiculous.” She kissed him again. “I love you, fiancee.” He smiled at the words coming from out of her mouth.

“I love you, fiancee.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've been having a lot of writer's block recently, so if you have any requests please let me know!


	17. First Word

The front door opened, Amelia walking through to see her favorite people standing in the living room. “Hi,” she exclaimed, running over to take her son.

“How was your day?” Link handed her the baby, cooing as he was shifted into his mother’s arms, receiving a big kiss on his forehead.

“It was fine, mostly traumas but Koracick took some so I could come home early.” She paused, admiring the child in her arms. “What did you two do today?”

“We went to the park for a while and had lunch there, and then it was naptime so we came home. And after naptime, we had a snack and then played for a while,” he said, sitting down onto the couch. She sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, Scout laughing.

“What!” Amelia scrunched her nose, speaking in a high pitched voice to her son. He laughed more before pausing.

“Dada!” The parents stopped, mouths open at their child’s exclamation.

“What did you say?” Link’s voice was comically quiet. Amelia turned to look at him.

“He said Dada. No!” She smacked her boyfriend’s arm.

“What was that for?” 

“His first word! Dada! Not Mom, or Mommy or Mama.” She practically threw the child into his arms before standing up. “Take your child.” Amelia placed emphasis on the word ‘your’, clearly annoyed by recent events.

“Oh come on, I can’t control what he says!” She pouted at him.

“Yeah, he just likes you better. Because what have I done for him?” She threw her arms up. “I only carried him for 9 months and then gave birth to him and fed him everyday for the past 6 months, but you know, Dada’s cool too.” Link laughed at her expression. “This is not funny! Ugh!” She walked over to her bag, pulling out her phone.

“What are you doing?” 

“Texting Meredith and Maggie.” Amelia paused for a moment. “You know, Ellis never said Dada when she was little because Derek wasn’t around. Maybe I’ll just murder you.” Link raised his eyebrows in response, shifting the giggling baby in his arms.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“This isn’t fair.” She moved to sit back down on the end of the couch.

“He’ll say Mama soon. Huh, buddy. Can you say Mama?”

“Dada!” Link laughed at his son’s attempts.

“He’ll learn. We’ll just say Mama everytime we’re around him.” She crossed her arms and pouted at him.

“Yeah, but he chose you. He chose Dada instead of Mama. I’ve been betrayed by my own child.”

Jo joined the family at the lunch table, Scout sitting in Amelia’s lap as he pointed at all the different people and objects in the room. “Hey Scout! How are you?” He smiled at his Aunt’s voice.

“He said his first word yesterday.” Link said, a proud smile covering his face. Amelia rolled her eyes.

“Really! What was it?”

“Dada.” Amelia’s voice was low as she sighed in annoyance, handing Scout over to Link.

“Oo,” Jo laughed softly, cutting her smile when she met Amelia’s gaze. “I get why you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad. I feel betrayed.” Amelia took a bite of her food, relaxing into the back of the chair. “And it’s his fault.” She pointed at Link, receiving a smile back from him. Her pager buzzed. “Ugh, crap. Okay, bye.” She kissed Link, dropping another on their baby’s forehead. Link turned to Jo.

“She’s annoyed.” Jo laughed.

“I would be too, Link.”

Amelia settled down into the bed, allowing Scout to lay down on her chest. They had learned that the one thing their son enjoyed the most was being close to people, being held and snuggled constantly. She wrapped her arms around his small body, placing a kiss on the top of his head. Her fingers ran through the messy blonde hair they had been meaning to get cut but never set aside the time to do so. Link stepped into the bedroom, his hair still damp from his shower. He slipped under the covers beside her and wrapped an arm around her, his other hand rubbing small circles on the baby’s back. “I should go put him down, it’s almost his bedtime.” She said, whispering softly as the baby’s eyes glanced between his parents. 

“I can do it.” Link offered. Amelia shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. Mama will put him to bed.” She sat up, supporting the baby with her arm and adjusting his onesie.

“Mama,” Scout babbled, grabbing her shirt in his fist. She turned to Link with wide eyes, meeting his grin.

“He said it! He said Mama!” Amelia exclaimed ecstatically, emitting a laugh from the joyful baby. “Yes! Mama!” Link sat up against the headboard, holding out his arms. He took Scout, wrapping him up in his embrace and squeezing him lightly.

“That’s our boy.” They continued to encourage him to speak, getting a video of him saying ‘Mama’ in his baby voice, something that made Amelia very happy. Eventually the baby was placed into his crib, not before his parents showered him with love and affection, praising him for his growing vocabulary and offering him lots of snuggles. Amelia got unready, taking a quick shower before throwing on one of his t-shirts and some pajama shorts, tying her hair back and crawling back into bed. They settled into their normal sleeping position, Amelia’s head on his chest with an arm thrown across his body, his arm under her to embrace her. “Goodnight, Amelia. I love you.”

“Goodnight. I love you.” Sleep soon took them over, both content with knowledge of the love that was shared between the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone. Sorry for the delay on an update, I've been having a lot of writer's block and haven't been that motivated. Updates might be sparse for a little bit.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Comments and kudos are always appreciated greatly! If you have any requests for future chapters, let me know and I will do my best to fulfill them :)  
> Thanks for the continued support, it means the world <3


	18. Leave

“Please don’t leave me alone.”

Link stood in the doorway, his head resting against the frame. He looked at Amelia on the bed, holding their son. “Hey,” he whispered, walking towards them.

“Hi.” She smiled at her boyfriend. “He’s asleep,” she motioned to the sleeping baby on her chest. “He’s been really good.” Link grinned, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “How’s Richard?”

“He’s good. Awake, stable. His memory’s back, too.” She grabbed his hand.

“That’s good.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” Amelia slid over in the bed and pulled him down to lay with her.

“It’s okay. Bailey stayed with me.” Link wrapped his arm around her in the bed. “We’re all okay, and that’s what matters.” Her head fell against his shoulder.

“Meredith and Maggie want to come visit sometime. And Jo.” His hand caressed the baby’s face, completely in awe of the life they created.

“Take him? I need to shower, and I can text them.” He nodded, slowly taking their son, careful not to disturb his sleep. The baby snuggled into Link’s embrace. “I’ll be back.” She stood up steadily, using the side of the hospital bed to help her up. Amelia grabbed her phone and quickly texted her sisters and Jo, letting them know they could come meet him later that night. “Bye,” she said gently, leaning over to kiss Link quickly before placing a kiss on Scout’s forehead. 

“Bye, Mia.” He watched as she walked away, his attention turning back to the baby in his arms. 

Amelia came out of the bathroom, changed into the pajamas that Link had brought her. “I feel so much better. I was all sweaty and gross.” She crawled into the bed, resting against him. “Meredith’s stopping by in a few minutes.” Link kissed her forehead.

“Okay.”

“Did he wake up?” He shook his head.

“Nope. He’s had a rough day, being born and all that.” She laughed lightly. “I don’t think I can put him down. I’m obsessed with holding him, and just looking at him.”

“Well, you’re going to have to give him up when Mer gets here. She kept going on and on how she couldn’t wait for him to be born.” The door creaked open, revealing a smiling Meredith. 

“Hi! I want some baby time.” Amelia grinned at the sight of her sister. “He’s adorable.” She held out her arms, taking the baby from Link.

“I told you you’d have to give him up,” Amelia said, laughing as she laid further against Link’s body.

“I miss when they were this tiny.” Meredith smiled at the couple. “What’s his name?”

“Scout. Scout Lincoln.” The door opened again as Maggie walked in. She whispered greetings to the family and walked over to Meredith, who was holding the baby.

“He’s the cutest thing, ever.” She said softly, lifting up the baby’s hat to reveal his blonde hair. “He’s got your hair, Link.” The ortho surgeon smiled, pulling his girlfriend closer to him. 

“I have to head out, I have surgery. Congrats you guys, I love you.” Meredith said, handing the little boy over to Maggie, sneaking out of the door. Maggie sat down in the chair next to the bed. The three engaged in light conversation as the baby drifted in and out of sleep, letting out a light babble every once in a while. 

“He’s so adorable,” Maggie whispered as Link’s phone dinged. He picked it up, careful not to move too much as to disturb Amelia who was laid against his body.

“Jo wants to come and stop by.” Maggie frowned.

“I don’t want to give him up.” Amelia smiled at her sister, her eyes struggling to stay open.

“How do you think we feel? He was complaining about the same thing before Mer got here.” Amelia motioned towards Link, holding her arms out. “I need some baby time.” Maggie handed her sister the baby with a pout on her face. 

“Almost makes me want one,” Maggie sighed. “But I don’t think I could handle it. I like surgery too much.” The couple laughed, their son settling in his mom’s arms.

“You can come and visit him anytime, Maggie. Amelia’s going to need the social interaction anyways, especially when she gets sick of me.” Amelia nudged him lightly, Maggie grinning at him.

“I’ll be over all the time.” Her pager went off, leading her to groan and stand up. “Trauma coming in. I gotta head out. Bye, Scout!” She snuck out of the door, leaving the couple alone.

“I’m really glad he has such a great family around him.” Link said, staring down at the baby.

“Mm, me too,” she whispered. “Have you told your parents? I know you’re still annoyed with them, but I think that he should at least know his grandparents.”

“Yeah, they’re gonna come visit sometime. Oh, can we take a picture for them?” Amelia groaned.

“I look like crap. I feel like crap, Link. I’ll take one of you and him.”

“Amelia, don’t say that. You look beautiful.” She blushed.

“Fine,” she said sarcastically, pretending to be annoyed with him. Link pulled out his phone and opened the camera, taking a quick selfie of the three of them and then pulling it up. 

“See? Beautiful.” Amelia rolled her eyes. “I’m putting it on Instagram.”

“You never use Instagram. Neither of us do.” 

“I know, but we have a kid now. We have to be ‘hip’ and ‘with the times’. We’re gonna be the cool parents, Mia.” She watched as he posted the photo. “There.”

“You’re ridiculous.” 

“You love me anyways.” He kissed her forehead before his phone buzzed. “See! Nico liked it. He wants to come visit.”

“We’re not gonna have much time alone with him, are we? I mean, with all of our friends wanting to see him all the time, he’s not going to know who his family is.”

“Amelia, he’ll be fine. It’s a good thing. He has so many people who care about him, who he can look up to. Scout is going to be just fine. He has us.”

“Promise you’ll never leave?” Amelia’s voice was tentative, almost as if she had underlying worries.

“I’ll never leave you. Either of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what this was, I wrote most of it a while ago and figured I'd wrap it up and post it. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it.


	19. Journey

Amelia set down her tablet, rubbing her temples and sighing. She had been on the night shift and ended up working into most of the day. 

“Dr. Shepherd? We need a neuro consult on an incoming trauma. 2 minutes out.” She groaned and pulled out a trauma gown and gloves. Amelia stepped outside to wait for the ambulance to show up. The sirens grew close as the vehicle stopped in front of her, the doors opening.

“4 year old male, fell at the park onto his arm. Disoriented on exam.” She looked up, seeing the familiar face of her husband.

“Link? What-oh my god, what happened!” She helped the stretcher down, met by the smiling face of her son.

“Hi Mama.” Amelia brushed her son’s hair back.

“Alright, page Koracick for a consult. I shouldn’t.” They pushed the stretcher inside.

“And get Nico. He fell on his arm, he was complaining about it during the ride,” Link sighed, clearly worried. 

“Link, what happened?” 

“He was climbing on the monkey bars, and I was holding him up. And he wanted to try alone. He got across fine and then kept climbing across and Jo texted me so I grabbed my phone and when I looked up he was on the ground.” They walked into the trauma room, helping to move Scout into the bed inside. 

“Okay, buddy. It’ll just be a few minutes, and you can see Tom and Nico, okay?” Amelia did her best to keep her voice calm as she sat down beside him. 

“My arm hurts, Mommy.” Amelia nodded, running her hands through his blonde hair. 

“I know.” She looked up at Link. “Did he hit his head?”

“I think so, he said he had a headache. God, I’m such an idiot.” As they settled in the trauma room, doctors came in and out to check on him. Amelia stood up as Koracick came in.

“Hey Tom. Uh, he fell at the park and he said he had a headache.” Amelia crossed her arms over her chest. Tom did a quick exam, checking Scout’s neuro state.

“Everything looks relatively normal, just a little disorientated, but let’s get a head CT just to be safe. It’s likely a minor concussion.” He looked down at Amelia’s worried face. “Shepherd, everything’s going to be okay,” he placed a hand on the boy’s leg. “Let’s take you up to get a CT, shall we?” He lifted up the sides of the gurney, moving around. “We will meet you two up on the Peds floor when we are done. Stay calm.” Amelia watched as they left, moving to head to the Peds floor. She looked over at Link who had his head in his hands.

“Link, he’s going to be okay. Kids get hurt, they break their arms and legs and everything.” She held out her hand.

“I feel like the worst parent in the world, I wasn’t paying attention to him and he fell.” She leaned down to meet his eyes.

“You looked away for a second. It’s not your fault.” Amelia placed a hand on his cheek. “You didn’t do anything wrong, kids do this. Ellis broke 3 bones when she was younger, and Meredith’s a super parent.” She kissed him softly. “Let’s head upstairs to meet our boy, okay?” Amelia pulled him out of the seat, gripping tightly onto his hand. They sat down in the waiting room of the Peds floor. She laid her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arm around his. Koracick came up soon after.

“CT is clear, we’ll just keep him overnight to be safe. X-Ray shows a broken arm, Dr. Kim will be up in a minute. He’s in 3104.” They thanked him before hurrying to the room, seeing their son lying in the bed.

“Hi mommy. Hi daddy.” The parents smiled at him while moving to sit down on either side of the bed. “My arm hurts.” Amelia pouted.

“I know. But Nico’s going to come and give you a cast, and you can pick whatever color you want.” Amelia said with a wide smile.

“Yellow! I want yellow!” Link laughed.

“Yellow it is.”

The three left the hospital the next day, a healthy son with a bright yellow cast sitting happily in the back seat of the car. Amelia turned around to look at him. “So Scout, since you were such a good boy in the hospital, do you want ice cream on the way home?” The four year old nodded quickly, grinning toothily at his mom. “Okay Dad, let’s go get ice cream!”

After hours of laughing, eating ice cream and cuddling on the couch, Scout was in his bed, clutching a brand new teddy bear from the hospital gift shop. His parents stood in the doorway and watched him settle. Amelia held out her hand for Link and pulled him towards their bedroom. “You seem upset.”

“I know you said it wasn’t my fault but I feel terrible.” He sat down on the bed, patting the empty space next to him for Amelia to sit down.

“He’s a kid. He would’ve fallen even if you were watching. Scout’s perfectly fine now.” She laid back into the bed. “Is this about your cancer?” Link sighed and laid back next to her. 

“I guess, I just worry about him. I was terrified we would find a mass on his arm.”

“Your cancer wasn’t genetic. The odds of him getting it are slim.” Amelia rolled onto her side, propping herself up onto her elbow.

“I was only a little older than him when I was diagnosed. I think it just scared me a bit.”

“It’s normal to be scared. We’re parents, Link. That’s part of the journey.” He smiled at her. Amelia scooched closer to him, placing her head on his chest and throwing an arm over him. He reached over to turn off the light in their bedroom.

“The journey is terrifying,” Link whispered. Amelia pulled up the covers over the two. 

“It really is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a prompt from Tumblr. If you have any requests, let me know!


	20. Birthday

Link woke up to the sound of the door opening, seeing his girlfriend standing at the end of the bed with a tray of food and a smile on her face. “Happy birthday!” She whispered-shouted, handing him the tray. He sat up in the bed and took it from her, his grin wide. Amelia crawled into the bed next to him, snuggling into his side.

“Thank you,” he said, wrapping an arm around her. Link picked up the fork, taking a bite of the pancakes she had made for him.

“So, we have plans today.” He looked down at her and raised his eyebrows. “I made us reservations at Angelini’s for 7, and the rest of the day will be spent here, in bed.” 

“That means you’re going to have to get dressed, in actual clothes,” he stated, knowing she had been living in pajamas and sweatpants for the past month. Amelia rolled her eyes.

“I know, but I’m willing to do that, for you.” He smiled. “Also, I have a gift for you.” She moved out of his embrace, slowly standing up and heading to the dresser. Her hands wrapped around her stomach as the drawer opened, revealing a neatly wrapped box. Amelia padded back over to the bed and held it out. “I know it’s not a lot, but it means something.” Link carefully peeled back the wrapping, pulling out a leather box. He opened the lid.

“A watch?” She nodded, sitting down next to him.

“My mom got my dad a watch on his birthday, before he died. And uh, I want you to have one, too. It’s obviously not the same, but it means a lot in my family.” He moved the tray of food, holding his arms out wide. She leaned into him.

“Thank you, Amelia,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “I love you.” She sighed in content.

“I love you, too.” Amelia lifted up her head to look at him. “And I think when we have our boy, and he’s a bit older, we could give him one too. Make it a family thing.” She placed emphasis on the word family, smiling shyly.

“I would love that.”

Amelia stepped out of the bathroom shyly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She was wearing a form-fitting black dress. Link let out a breath when he saw her.

“Wow,” Link exclaimed, looking towards her. “You look incredible.” She blushed. Amelia stepped towards him, smiles covering both of their faces.

“You don’t look too bad yourself, mister.” She reached up to tie his tie.

“I can do that, you should go get your shoes on.” 

“Well, how would you survive without a woman to tie your tie? It’s my duty.” She said with a grin. 

“I’ve never heard that one before.” Link pulled on his suit jacket, turning back to the mirror. 

“It’s only in like, every movie.” Amelia stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him, her arms wrapping around his neck.

“As much as I love this, and you, we have to get going.” His voice was soft as she pulled away, pouting up at him. 

“I know,” she sighed, grabbing his hands from his side. “Okay, let’s go.” She tugged his hand towards the door, leading him down the stairs of Meredith’s house. They said goodbye to the sisters in the living room, heading towards Link’s car in the driveway.

“When did you get this dress? I’ve never seen it before.” Amelia looked up at him as he opened the car door to her side before heading to the driver’s side. They got in and buckled their seatbelts.

“Last week. Meredith took the kids out shopping and I went with because I had the day off and was bored out of my mind, and she practically forced me to get some clothes that weren’t three sizes too big. Also said I had to get something nice for your birthday.” He placed a hand on top of hers on the console of the car. 

“Sounds like torture.”

“It really was, but I like this dress. And she said I can have all of her old maternity clothes, so I probably won’t have to buy anything. My old clothes officially don’t fit me anymore.”

“Is that why all of my t-shirts are gone?” She nodded.

“They’re comfy, they smell like you and I don’t have to go out and buy anything. It’s perfect.” Amelia looked out the car window, settling in the car seat with a hand wrapped under her belly. “I can give you back all of your t-shirts as a birthday present, if you’d like.” He laughed.

“You keep them. You’d just steal them back, anyways.” Amelia grinned at him as he pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. She opened her door and jumped out of the car.

“Finally. I’m starving. Baby is starving.” Amelia moved around the car to loop her arm through his, her head leaning against his shoulder. 

“Well, let’s have dinner, then.”

Amelia laid back into the bed, sighing and curling into Link’s body next to her. “Thank you,” she whispered, nuzzling her face into his chest. He wrapped an arm around her body and pulled the sheets over them.

“Thank you, for the best birthday I’ve ever had.” She lifted her head up to kiss him.

“It’ll be better next year,” she teased, playing with his fingers. “We’ll have another person to celebrate with.” Link grinned widely at her comment.

“I love you. Both of you.”

“I love you,” she responded, staring into his eyes. The silence of his apartment settled between the two, just the light rustling of the sheets and comforter over them. She soon fell asleep against his chest with his hand stroking her hair. Link sighed contently, allowing himself to settle and fall asleep with her in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it :)  
> Please leave any requests you have for future chapters!  
> Also, thank you all so much for the continued support. It really means the world <3


	21. First Day

“Good morning!” Link sang, holding the 3 month old in his arms as he walked into the bedroom. “Who’s excited for their first day back?” Amelia lifted her head up, groaning. She smiled at the sight of her son, sitting up in the bed and stretching her arms out to take him.

“I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here and snuggle him all day.” She wrapped her arms around her son, kissing his forehead and looking up at her boyfriend. “I just wanna lay here with you both. I just want to spend some more time with my boys.” Link pouted at her, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“We’ll do that the second we get home. I don’t think Bailey will stand for having her best neurosurgeon out for any longer.” He met her gaze. “I promise it’s not that bad. I mean, it’s hard at first, you’ll miss him all the time, but being back in the OR and back at work is great. He’ll be right up in daycare and you can see him anytime you want.”

“But what if he gets sick, or he falls or something while he’s in daycare. We won’t be there to see him and hold him and tell him that everything’s okay, Link.”

“They’d call us the second anything happens, Mia. It’s their job.” She sat the baby down in her lap, looking into his blue eyes. “He’s in a building of doctors anyways. If anything were to happen, there’d be a million people who would jump to take care of him and find out whatever was wrong.”

“I guess.” She muttered, sighing. He looked down at his watch.

“We have to get going soon. I’ll get this little guy ready, and you get ready yourself.” Amelia handed him the baby, moving from out under the covers to stand up. She walked towards the dresser and pulled out one of her blouses that she hadn’t touched in what seemed like years. She pulled it on and replaced her pajama shorts with some dress pants, attempting to adjust to her reflection in the mirror. Link soon returned with a baby dressed in new clothes, cooing in his father’s arms. Link noticed her stillness. “You okay?” She turned around at the sound of his voice, a small smile on her face.

“I’ve been wearing baggy clothes for like, the past three months, I haven’t really seen how my old clothes fit. I’m not used to seeing myself without a bump.” He smiled at her, stepping towards her and holding out the boy. She took him and rested the baby on her hip, staring up at him with a confused expression.

“This is what you should get used to. Seeing this.” He stood behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She smiled in the mirror, leaning her head back against Link’s shoulder and sighing contently. 

“I love this. I love you.” Her phone buzzed, bursting them out of their small bubble of happiness in their reflection. “That’s my alarm. We have to go.” She groaned, following him out of the bedroom with the baby still on her hip. After fastening him into the carseat, she sat down and buckled her seat belt. “Let’s do this.”

Amelia slumped down onto the bed in the on call room, laying back against the pillow. The door creaked open, a sliver of light peeking in from the hallway. “Hey,” Link whispered, moving towards the bed she was laying on. He sat down before lifting up the covers and sliding in next to her. “How’s your day going?”

“Daycare won’t let me see him again. They say it’s bad for the parents to come and go so much. I’m exhausted, and I miss my baby.” Amelia’s voice was quiet, clearly upset by her day.

“Yeah, they don’t let me come either.” He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to his body. “Do you have anything else today?”

“No, just on call. You?”

“Same here. Wanna take a nap until one of us inevitably gets paged?” 

“Yeah.” Amelia sighed, moving closer to him and splaying herself across his body, allowing herself to relax in his embrace.

“Hi. We’re here for Scout Lincoln,” Amelia said excitedly, shifting her bag on her arm. The daycare nurse nodded and turned around to grab Scout, helping the couple to check out. They signed the check out papers, listening to the nurse summarize their son’s day, not truly paying attention as both of them just wanted to see him. Another nurse approached with the baby in her arms, his small face lighting up at the sight of his parents. Amelia took her son quickly, giving him many kisses on his head and wrapping her arms around him tightly. Link smiled at them, holding out his hand for Amelia to grab with her free arm. “Hey, Scout. Daddy and I missed you today!” They stepped into the elevator, Amelia leaning against the wall and adjusting him on her hip.

“Do you want to pick up food or anything on the way home?” She shook her head, turning her attention to the boy in her arms.

“Nah. I just wanna go home and relax. We can eat after this guy falls asleep.” Amelia said in a high pitched voice, bouncing him up and down. The elevator door opened, the couple leaving and walking towards the car. They buckled him into the car seat, checking each strap a hundred times to make sure he was secure. By the time they arrived home, Scout was asleep in his seat. “I got him,” she whispered, jumping out of the car to grab her son. 

“If we’re lucky, he’ll stay asleep.” Link whispered, watching as she carefully unbuckled the boy from his seat, gently lifting him so as to not disturb him. After walking through the door and setting him down in the crib, they watched his chest rise and fall, his slumber not disturbed by the movement. Amelia laid her head back against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist.

“We are absolutely killing this whole parenting thing, Link.” He laughed softly, pulling away to tug her towards the door of the nursery.

“You know, he’s asleep. And he’s probably going to stay down. Which means, we have some ‘free time’ to do whatever we want.” She raised her eyebrows at his statement, a smile covering her face.

“Mm.” She laughed, following him into the bedroom, the two definitely taking advantage of their newfound ‘free time’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll hopefully be posting more frequently in the coming days and such :)  
> Thank you for the constant support! It means so much.


	22. Cries

“Okay, I’m calling Meredith.” She handed Link the screaming baby, leaving the room to grab her phone. Their son had been crying for what seemed like forever, his shrieks piercing through the air in the apartment. The phone rang, no answer coming from the other side of the line. Amelia groaned and walked back into the living room, where Link held their son and rocked back and forth. “She didn’t answer. I don’t know what to do.”

“Maybe let’s go for a drive? He sleeps in the car sometimes.” He spoke loudly so she could hear him over their son’s cries. 

“It’s worth a shot.” After a long drive around the neighborhood, the baby was still left unsettled, kicking and squirming around in the car seat. Link parked in the driveway and turned around to look at Amelia in the back seat. “Link, I don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t know either!” He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “Sorry, I’m just stressed. I can’t think over him crying.” He paused. “Let’s get him inside. We’ll figure something out.” She nodded, unbuckling the baby from his car seat and lifting him up into her arms. They moved inside the house, Amelia holding him and rocking him in her arms while walking around the home.

“Scout, you’re going to kill us. Please stop crying.” Amelia walked into her and Link’s bedroom, setting him down on the bed where the baby often loved to sleep. He rolled around on the covers, his cries only increasing in volume. Amelia laid down next to him and placed a hand on his forehead. Link walked into the bedroom, pacifier in hand. “He doesn’t have a fever, or it doesn’t feel like it at least. I don’t think he’s sick,” she complained, running a hand through her hair. Link held up the pacifier.

“Let’s try this again.” He sat down on the bed, holding the blue pacifier up to the baby’s mouth. Scout used his little fists to push Link’s hand away, swinging his arms wildly in the air. “Scout, you have to stop crying. Mommy and I need to sleep. You need to sleep.” 

“I could call Addison. Or Charlotte, they’re good with babies.” He looked up at her.

“Try feeding him again.” Amelia groaned, sitting down on the bed and pulling down her shirt. She lifted the baby up, who clearly had no interest in doing anything besides crying. 

“He didn’t want to eat an hour ago. Of course he doesn’t want to eat now.” She said snarkily, handing him the child.

“Okay, I’m just trying to think of anything that could help, Amelia.” She fixed her shirt, pulling out her phone and clicking on Addison’s contact. “We can figure this out, Mia.”

“We obviously can’t! He’s been crying for hours, Link.”

“He’ll tire himself out eventually.” She called Addison, putting the phone up to her ear.

“Addie, I don’t know what to do. Scout won’t stop crying. We’ve tried everything, feeding him, changing his diaper, taking a bath, going for a drive, what do I do?” Link couldn’t hear what she said on the phone over the noise. He stood up with the baby and left the room to allow her to hear easier, bouncing the baby up and down as he paced through the hallway and into the kitchen. She soon ran out into the living room. “Take off your shirt.” He looked at her, confusion spread across his face.

“What? Amelia, I don’t think-”

“Take off your shirt. Give me him.” Link complied hesitantly, handing his girlfriend the baby before pulling off his shirt. He watched as she undid Scout’s onesie, leaving him in his diaper. “Go lay down in the bed. Addison said when Henry was a baby, he would calm down with skin to skin.” Amelia followed him to the bedroom, placing the baby onto Link’s chest. Amelia ran her hand across Scout’s head, using her fingers to attempt to soothe the baby. After a minute of cries, he stopped. Amelia looked up at Link with wide eyes, her expression shocked.

“It worked.” He exclaimed, quickly quieting his voice as he remembered the baby on his chest. Amelia placed a hand on the baby’s back, rubbing her thumb up and down. They stayed like that, savoring the quiet in the room as he fell asleep. “He’s sleeping.”

“We should put him in his crib,” she whispered, sitting up on the bed and holding out her arms to hold him. Link carefully sat up, moving slowly as to not disturb the sleeping baby, handing her Scout. Amelia took him, standing up and slowly moving towards the nursery down the hallway. Link soon followed and watched her place him down in the crib, successful as to not disturb him or wake him up. She turned around to smile at her boyfriend, her arms shooting up in silent excitement. Amelia quickly moved into the hallway and quietly closed the nursery door behind her. “I thought I was going to go deaf.” She whisper-shouted, pulling him into a quick hug. He laughed, pulling away and walking back into the bedroom. 

“You need to call all of your friends and get all of their tips. We can keep a list, so when he gets tired of laying on me, we have something else to try.” He smiled down at her, laying back onto the bed. She adjusted the baby monitor, making sure they could easily hear it for when he inevitably started crying again.

“Sorry I yelled. I got stressed.” Amelia scrunched her nose, laying down next to him and resting her chin on his chest.

“It’s okay. I yelled too.” She nodded at his words, yawning quietly.

“Okay. Let’s sleep while he sleeps.” Link smiled widely, reaching over to turn off the bedside lamp, wrapping an arm around her body. They both quickly fell asleep, the exhaustion of the day causing them both to savor the quiet around them and relax into the comfort of their bed. The baby didn’t wake up again, clearly exhausted himself from screaming all day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a request from the comments :)  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always, don't forget to leave kudos and comment any requests you have!


	23. Alive

“What do we have?” Teddy asked, running out into the trauma bay to meet Jo. 

“Car accident.” The ambulance pulled up, stopping and opening the back doors.

“38-year-old male, hit on the driver’s side. Passed out at the scene and regained consciousness a minute ago with the loss of verbal skills. Pulse has been steady.” The paramedic lowered the stretcher down.

“Oh my god. Teddy, it’s Link.” Jo stepped away. “I shouldn’t work on him. He-he’s family to me.” The blonde nodded, grabbing the side of the stretcher and pushing it inside. 

“Okay, let’s page Koracick and Bailey.” Teddy looked down into Link’s eyes, his breathing heavy. She grabbed his hand. “We’ve got you, Link. It’s going to be okay.” He nodded quickly at her, watching as the familiar surroundings of the E.R. passed by him. “I’m going to put in an IV, okay?” Tom walked through the doors to the trauma room, clearly shocked by the man on the bed in front of him.

“Has anyone told Amelia?” Teddy shook her head.

“No, we’ll tell her when we know what’s going on.” Tom nodded, moving closer to Link.

“Okay. Follow my finger, good. Can you move your hands? Feet?” He sighed in relief as the ortho surgeon wiggled his fingers and toes, nodding slowly. “Good. I need a head CT. Get it once Bailey checks him and page me.” Teddy moved towards Link again, grabbing his hand to stop it from shaking.

“Bailey will be here in a second. I know it’s scary, not being able to talk, but you’ve got the best here. You’re going to be just fine.”

“There’s no way,” Amelia sighed, crossing her arms against her chest. “There’s literally no way.” Meredith rolled her eyes at her sister.

“Then take the test!” The door to the lounge opened as Maggie entered the room.

“What’s going on in here?”

“Amelia’s pregnant. She doesn’t want to admit it though.” Maggie sat down at the table in the middle of the room.

“I’m not pregnant.”

“Amelia, your boobs are big. You were sick yesterday, and I’m sure you and Link are having plenty of sex, enough sex to get you pregnant again.” Meredith held out the box. “Just take the damn test.” The brunette groaned, taking it and walking into the bathroom attached to the lounge. Maggie turned to face Meredith.

“Why are we forcing Amelia to take a pregnancy test?”

“Oh, well she has symptoms. And Link was talking to me during surgery about how he wants another kid, and I guess that was on my mind.” Meredith shrugged. The bathroom door opened, Amelia walking out with the stick in her hand.

“Okay, let’s wait.” The brunette sat down at the table, eyeing her sisters. “Why are you so stuck on this, Mer?” 

“Well my life has gotten pretty boring, so I’m living vicariously through you. Plus Scout’s like the cutest baby ever, and I think you should have another.” Meredith drank some of her coffee before setting it back onto the table. “When was the last time you had your period, Amelia.”

“I don’t know. It’s been irregular since Scout was born, I haven’t been paying attention to that.” 

“I think the fact that you don’t know means you haven’t gotten it in a while, enough time for you to be pregnant again.”

“We haven’t even talked about it, I don’t know if Link wants another kid.” Amelia kicked her feet up onto the table and relaxed back into the chair.

“He does. We were talking about it yesterday in surgery.” The neurosurgeon’s eyes widened at her sister.

“Well, what did he say?” Meredith shrugged.

“I was asking if you were having another kid because the surgery was getting boring, and he said he wanted another sometime. Then we started talking about Ellis because she wants a younger sibling, but there’s no way that’s happening.” Meredith said, nonchalantly. Maggie laughed. “What about you, Maggie? Are you and Winston ever going to have kids?”

“Woah, we’re just dating. Besides, I don’t think I could handle children of my own. I wouldn’t be able to work as much.” Maggie took a sip of her coffee.

“So you’ll just continue to steal our children,” Amelia interjected, checking her phone.

“Exactly.” The timer on Amelia’s phone went off. She picked up the test on the table in front of her and stared at it.

“Holy shit.” She looked between her sisters. “I’m pregnant.”

“He’s got an epidural bleed. I need to get in there now.” Bailey nodded at her fellow surgeon, grabbing the tablet from the desk in the scan room.

“I’ll fix the splenic bleed at the same time.” She opened the tablet, inputting information into his chart. “Someone needs to tell Shepherd.”

“I’ll do it,” Teddy said, moving to walk through the door. “Do you need me in the OR after?”

“We should be fine, I’ll page you if we need you.” Teddy left, running down the hallway and searching in rooms for Amelia. She opened the door to the attendings’ lounge, spotting Amelia sitting at the table with her sisters.

“Amelia! Can we go somewhere and talk?”

“What is it?” Her voice was full of joy, something that Teddy knew would fade the second she told Amelia what was happening. She tilted her head to the side and offered a sympathetic smile.

“It’s Link. He was in an accident.” Amelia sat up, her mouth wide open. 

“What? What happened?!”

“He got hit on the driver’s side. He’s got an epidural bleed and his spleen is bleeding, but Koracick and Bailey are taking him to surgery right now.”

“I need to go, I need to go see him.” Meredith placed a hand on Amelia’s arm.

“Amelia, there’s nothing you can do except wait. You won’t do any good in the gallery.” Amelia bit her lip, her chin quivering.

“Meredith, he could die. And that can’t happen, I can’t lose him. I can’t.” She took a deep breath, running her hands through her short hair. “If Link dies, I won’t be able to handle it. 

“I’m going to head up to the OR to see if they need me. I’ll keep you updated, Amelia.” The brunette nodded as Teddy left, Amelia’s hand covering her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut. Maggie stood up and walked behind her sister, wrapping her arms around Amelia and hugging her from behind.

“It’s going to be okay, Amelia. We’ll stay here with you,” she whispered into Amelia’s ear. Meredith nodded in agreeance, holding Amelia’s hand as she began to cry. 

“Can you-can you go get Scout? I need to hold him and hug him.” Meredith stood up to leave the room, whispering that she’d return soon after. “Maggie, I can’t lose him.” 

“I know Amelia, I know.”

After hours of sitting in silence, Amelia cradling her son and thinking about the worst possible things that could be occurring, Teddy came into the lounge. “He’s okay. He started crashing, but we got him back. You can see him soon.” Amelia smiled widely, covering her mouth with her hand and pulling her son closer to her.

“Thank you,” she whispered, looking up at Teddy. “Thank you.” Teddy smiled at her, rubbing her shoulder before leaving. Amelia looked at her sisters. “He’s okay, he’s really okay.” They grinned at her, wrapping her and Scout in hugs.

Amelia was sat by Link’s bedside, holding his hand as if her life depended on it. Her eyes drifted between his face and the heart monitor he was attached to, as if at any moment it could just cut out and she would lose him. “Link,” she whispered, “you have to wake up. I need you. Scout needs his Dad and we’re gonna have another baby, and that baby needs their Dad. Link, I can’t live without you. You need to wake up.” She wiped a tear away from her face and placed her hand back on top of his. “Please wake up. I love you, you need to wake up. This is not how we end, we have so much more to do, together. I don’t think I can do this without you.” She felt motion under her hand, her eyes brightening as she looked up, seeing his eyes flutter and open slowly. “Oh, Link.” She stood up next to the bed, placing a hand on his cheek.

“Hey,” he whispered, his voice weak. 

“Hi. How are you feeling?” He smiled slowly, wincing at the pain he was in.

“Tired. My head hurts.” Amelia sniffled, rubbing her finger up and down his cheek. “What happened?”

“You were in a car accident. Drunk driver. You had a brain bleed and a splenic bleed, but Bailey and Tom operated, and you’re okay now.” She smiled down at him.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You’re alive, and that’s what matters.” She sat down on the side of the bed, hanging her legs off the side and locking her hand in his. 

“Where’s Scout?”

“He’s with Maggie, he’s okay.” Link nodded. “When I found out you were in an accident, I was about to find you to tell you something.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “I found out I’m pregnant.” His eyes widened slightly, a smile slowly appearing on his face.

“Really?” She laughed at his tired excitement.

“Yeah, we’re gonna have another baby.” Link grinned toothily, holding his arms out to her.

“Come here.” She laid down slowly, carefully adjusting the wires attached to him before snuggling into his arms. 

“Thank you for not dying.” He kissed the top of her head and pulled her against his body.

“I love you, Amelia.”

“I love you.” She laid there for a few minutes, listening to his breathing settle as he fell back asleep, the exhaustion in his body taking over. Amelia finally allowed herself to relax and fall asleep in his arms, content knowing that the love of her life was perfectly alive and okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Updates will be a little more sparse for the next week or so, but I'll be here :)  
> Don't forget to like and comment if you have any requests or suggestions!


	24. Halloween

“So, what are we doing for Halloween?” An arm wrapped around her waist, Link’s breath in her ear. Amelia was surprised by Link’s voice as she set down her tablet on the nurse’s station and turned to face him.

“I didn’t think we were doing anything? I mean, he’s not going to remember anything until he’s like, 4 or something.” She said, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. He titled his head to the side.

“What! Amelia, it’s Halloween! We have to get him a costume and at least go trick or treating with Meredith. It’s his first Halloween!” His pager went off, causing him to let out a sigh. “I gotta go. But, we have a week. Think about it!” She watched as she ran down the hallway, pulling out her phone to text Meredith.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: What are you guys doing for Halloween? Link is insisting we do something and I can get away with coming with you and the kids.

MEREDITH GREY: Trick or treating with Maggie. Be at our place at 5.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: You’re a lifesaver.

“Link, just let me see.” Amelia stood outside the closed door of the nursery as her boyfriend refused to let her in.

“One sec, we’re almost ready.”

“What do you mean, “we’re”? Did you get a costume too? Link, I didn’t get anything!” She could hear her son cooing from inside the room. The door slowly opened, revealing Scout wearing a small Batman costume that was obviously too big for him.

“It’s the smallest one they had, but I figured he could be our little Batman. Even if he’s too tiny for it.” 

“It’s adorable, Link.” Amelia smiled widely, taking note of the cape that was attached to the back of Link’s shirt. 

“Mine was last minute, but we got one for you, too. So we can all be Batmans.” His voice was filled with excitement, obviously ecstatic for their first Halloween. Amelia took her son, resting him on her hip while Link ran into their bedroom, shortly returning with a cape for her to wear. He pinned it onto the back of her black shirt before stepping away to look proudly at his girlfriend. “There.”

“I love it, she whispered, looking up at him. Link pulled out his phone.

“Okay, smile you two.” Amelia grinned at the camera as Link attempted to get their son’s attention and take a picture. “There we go. Our first Halloween.” He leaned down to kiss her, before pulling away and checking his watch. “We gotta go to Meredith’s. We can get pictures of him and the kids there.” She laughed, shifting the baby on her hip and following Link out of their apartment. When they arrived at Meredith’s, they were greeted by the kids who were all eager to hold their little cousin. Link followed the kids into the living room with Scout in his arms, sitting down on the couch as they cooed over him. Amelia turned to Meredith.

“Thanks again for letting us tag along. Link wants all of our firsts to be special.” Meredith chuckled, walking towards the living room.

“Of course. You’re still family, you know. You can hang out with us whenever.” The group left the house soon after and began to walk around the neighborhood, the kids running up to each house to collect candy and taking turns pushing Scout in his stroller between houses. At the end of the night, the families ended up back at Meredith’s house. The older kids were spread out on the floor, Meredith and Maggie helping them to sort and trade their candy. Amelia and Link sat on the couch, holding their sleeping baby.

“I can’t believe he’s going to be that old one day,” she whispered, looking down at their son.

“I know.” Link laid his head against Amelia’s, allowing himself to relax.

“Auntie Amelia!” Zola exclaimed, standing up quickly. “This is for Scout.” Amelia smiled, taking the small candy bar from her niece.

“Aw, thank you, Zo. But he’s too little and can’t have candy yet. But,” she said, unwrapping the chocolate and taking it out, “I’ll eat it.” Amelia shoved the chocolate into her mouth and made a big deal of eating it, emitting laughs from the kids.

“What about you, Uncle Link? Do you want some candy?” Link smiled.

“Sure, Zo. That’d be great.” She kneeled down into the pile of candy before returning with another chocolate bar. Link took it with a grin, thanking the little girl in front of him.

“Are you going to come with us every Halloween? Because Scout can come too, and we can share all of our candy when he gets older.” Zola questioned. Amelia turned to look at Link who shrugged before looking at Meredith who smiled at her and nodded her head.

“I think so, would you like that?” Zola nodded quickly.

“Yeah! He can dress up with me next year. Or with Bailey and they can both be superheroes!” Bailey perked up in his Superman costume. “And you can come for Christmas and Thanksgiving too! And Easter!” 

“We’ll see, Zo.” Zola took a step towards the couch.

“Scout’s a good baby. Ellis cried all time.” Zola stared at her little cousin who was curled up on his mother’s chest.

“He cries, too. But he’s tired.” Zola looked up at her Aunt.

“Can we babysit him some time? Mommy can help us.” Amelia smiled, adjusting the baby.

“If your Mommy says yes, of course, Zo.” Zola grinned widely before turning back to her siblings on the floor and giving a piece of candy to Maggie. 

“Look, we have free babysitting, now,” Link whispered into Amelia’s ear, gaining a soft laugh from her. 

“Yeah, but that means we’ll have to take them some time. That’s how it works.” Link’s eyes widened. “It’ll be fine, they’ll be excited about a sleepover. Plus, they’re all pretty mesmerized by him so they’ll be calm.” The couple left Meredith’s house a few hours later after all the kids had fallen asleep. Amelia and Link successfully transferred the baby into his crib without waking him, changing him into a onesie before doing so. They settled into bed, the happy memories of the first Halloween as a family running through their minds as they fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you all for the continued support and let me know if you have any requests and I'll do my best to fulfill them!


	25. Cousins

Amelia rang the doorbell, she had left her key back in the apartment and they weren’t going to risk going back and waking the sleeping baby. He was just over a week old, but they had decided that it was okay for him to come and meet his cousins who had eagerly been asking Meredith every day when they would meet him. Meredith answered the door and greeted them and let the couple in, taking the car seat from Amelia while she and Link took off their shoes. They walked into the living room to see the kids anxiously waiting on the couch. 

“Hi, Auntie Meelia!” Ellis shouted, jumping off of the couch and running over to hug her Aunt’s legs. Meredith put a finger to her lips, reminding the kids to be silent.

“Hey, Elle. Be quiet, okay? Scout is asleep now and if he wakes up he’s going to cry.” Ellis looked up at her Aunt.

“Sowwy.” Amelia ran a hand through her blonde curls and carefully picked her up. 

“Let’s sit on the couch, so you can hold him, okay?” The little girl nodded enthusiastically, sitting on Amelia’s lap as Link took the car seat from Meredith and placed it down on the couch. He carefully unbuckled the baby and picked him up.

“Zola, do you want to hold him first?” Zola politely smiled. Meredith handed her a pillow so Scout could rest on it. Link walked over, kneeling down and placing the sleeping baby in Zola’s arms. Scout opened his eyes, taking in the unfamiliar area around him. Link sat down next to Zola and helped her to support the baby’s head as she held him. Meredith sat up and moved next to Amelia, taking Ellis out of her lap.

“How’re you guys holding up?” Meredith asked, turning towards Amelia.

“Tired. He’s been pretty good though. Whenever he cries, he’ll calm down if you hold him.” Amelia said, leaning back into the couch. 

“I miss when they were tiny.” They looked over to see Bailey taking his turn, Zola helping him just as Link had done with her. Ellis crawled over the couch to say hello to the baby. “My babies are all grown up now.”

“I know, he’s already so much bigger than when he was born.”

“Auntie Meelia, why is he so little?” Ellis asked curiously, placing her hands on Amelia’s knee to support herself.

“He’s a baby, just like how you’re smaller than me, Elle.” Zola was always eager to answer her siblings’ questions whenever she could. “He’ll be as big as you one day.”

“Can he talk?” 

“Not yet, Elle. When he gets older he will,” Amelia whispered. Meredith stood up.

“Do you want anything? I’m making myself some tea.” Amelia smiled at her and nodded her head.

“Tea would be great.” Meredith turned to Link, who shook his head.

“I’m fine.” Bailey looked over at Link.

“Uncle Link, will you play with me? Zola and Ellis won’t play with my cars.” Link grinned.

“Of course, buddy.” He turned to Amelia, who took the baby from Bailey as the blonde-haired boy stood up. “You got him?” Amelia nodded.

“Go play with him. We’ll have girls time with Scout.” Link placed a kiss on her forehead before following Bailey upstairs to his room. Ellis looked over at Amelia.

“Can I hold him?” 

“Sure, Elle. Take that pillow from Zola, yup.” Ellis sat back against the couch with the pillow on her lap, holding her arms out. Amelia slowly placed the baby into the little girl’s arms, helping her to hold him. “Okay, be gentle with him.” 

“You’re gonna be my best friend, Scout,” Ellis whispered as she stared down at the baby. “I love him so much, Auntie Meelia.” Amelia smiled widely, placing her tongue on the roof of her mouth so she wouldn’t start to cry.

“He loves you, too.” Zola looked up at her Aunt who was sniffling softly.

“Why are you crying?” Zola questioned as Meredith walked back into the room, holding two steaming mugs. Meredith sat down and placed them on the coffee table, placing a hand on Zola’s back.

“Zo, when women have babies, they have a lot of hormones in their bodies and it can make them more emotional.” Zola turned around to her mother, processing what Meredith had said.

“Oh, like how Auntie Amelia didn’t want to eat bacon when she was pregnant?” Meredith laughed.

“Sort of.” Zola moved closer to her sister and cousin. Meredith noticed Link and Bailey were gone. “Where’d they go?”

“Bailey wanted someone to play cars with so they went upstairs.” Ellis looked over at Meredith.

“Momma, can we get a baby?” Meredith shook her head, laughing.

‘No, no, Ellie. We’re not going to have another baby.” Ellis pouted. “But you can hang out with Scout all the time.”

“Okay.” At that moment, Scout began to cry, a scared expression taking over Ellis’ face. Amelia took the baby from her and stood up, rocking him back and forth. “Why is he crying?” Amelia smiled down at her. “Is he okay?”

“He’s okay, Elle. I think he’s hungry, let me grab-” She moved over towards the baby bag, grabbing out the feeding cover before sitting back down on the couch. Amelia used it to cover herself as she fed the baby, his cries stopping. She looked over at Meredith. “It might be time for us to head home soon, it’s almost nap time.”

“We have to eat lunch, too.”

“Zola, could you go upstairs and tell Link that we’re going home soon?” The girl nodded, jumping off the couch and running up the stairs. Amelia removed the cover and fixed her shirt, burping the baby over her shoulder. Link came downstairs with Zola and Bailey trailing him.

“Are we heading out?” Amelia nodded and stood up, cradling the baby in her arms.

“He just ate and needs to take a nap soon.” Link smiled at his son, holding out his arms to take the baby. “Thank you for having us, Mer.” 

“Thanks for coming. You’re going to have to come back a lot, I doubt they’ll stop talking about him.” She walked with the couple to the door after they said goodbye to the kids. “You know, if you guys ever need a night, we would love to take him. Although, I can’t promise he’ll get any sleep.” Amelia grinned.

“Thanks, Mer.” Link held open the door for his girlfriend, waving to Meredith before closing it. Amelia placed the car seat down before moving out of the way to allow Link to place the baby down. After strapping him in, Scout quickly fell asleep. Amelia sat down next to him, content being with their perfect baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday! This was a request from the comments on here. I hope you enjoyed it!


	26. Wedding

Link stood in the doorframe, watching Amelia rub her temples as she slammed the computer screen shut. “You okay?” He questioned, stepping into the bedroom. She crossed her arms and groaned.

“I hate wedding planning. I can’t even find somewhere to have the wedding.” He sat down on the side of the bed.

“What about where Alex and Jo got married? You said it was nice.”

“Yeah, but it’s booked until next summer. I don’t want to wait a year to get married. Plus, their wedding was kind of a disaster.” She set the laptop down on the nightstand and sat up in bed. “Everywhere is booked. Apparently everyone is getting married.” 

“Okay, so we’ll do something small.” Link stood up, taking off his shirt and changing into his pajama bottoms.

“Still, we’re going to have to wait forever.” He turned around to look at her.

“Amelia, let’s just go to the courthouse or something. We can have a little thing with friends, after.” Amelia tilted her head to the side.

“You’d be okay with that? I thought you wanted a bigger wedding.” Link sat in front of her on the bed and took her hands in his.

“All I need is you, Amelia. I want to be married to you. It doesn’t matter where it happens.”

“Are you sure?” He nodded.

“I’m sure,” he said as she leaned forward to kiss him, her hand cupping the side of his face. “Let’s get married, Amelia.”

“I love you, like a lot.” She pulled away, their foreheads resting against each other. 

“I love you more.”

The door opened, Maggie walking through. “Hey,” she whispered, “you ready?” Amelia turned around and smiled. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” She adjusted her dress and followed Maggie out of the bedroom and into the living room. Meredith was standing there holding Scout, talking to him enthusiastically about how his parents were getting married. 

“Amelia, you look beautiful.” She blushed at her sister’s comment, walking towards her and holding out her arms for Scout.

“Thank you, Mer.” They had decided that even if they were going to the courthouse, they wanted their closest friends and family there. That included Meredith, Maggie, Jo, and of course Scout, all of their people. Jo walked into the hallway, looking down at her phone.

“Link will be out in a second, he’s struggling to do the basic task of tying a tie.” She glanced up, seeing her soon to be sister-in-law in front of her. “You look amazing Amelia.” Although all of their friends were dressed very simply, Amelia and Link had decided to wear something nice. The day prior, she had gone out with her sisters to find a more casual white dress to wear, but something that still resembled a wedding dress. She had settled on a short, white dress that was decorated in small lace details. “Okay, give me my nephew.” Amelia handed the 6 month-old to Jo and sat on the back of the couch. After a small bit of conversation, Link came out of the bathroom in his black suit, a bright blue tie neatly tucked into the suit top. 

“Oh my god-” he muttered as he saw his soon-to-be wife standing in front of him. She walked forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Amelia, you’re so beautiful.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself, mister.” She kissed him softly, looking down at his tie. “Why blue?”

“Scout picked it out. But, I think it was just the first one he saw and he liked the bright color.” Amelia laughed softly, a wide grin spread across her face.

“Let’s go get married.” She kissed him again before pulling away and grabbing his hand, pulling him towards the door of their apartment. After a short car ride, they arrived at the town hall and got out, walking into the building. Meredith walked up beside Amelia.

“So, are we not running away this time?” Amelia slapped her sister’s arm and rolled her eyes.

“No, we’re not.”

“Hey, I was just asking. I’m being a good sister.” Amelia grinned and looped her arm through Link’s, walking up to the receptionist’s desk and giving their names. The receptionist pointed them towards the waiting room, informing them that they would be called soon. The couple sat down next to each other, Amelia taking Scout from his aunt and sitting him on her lap. She laid her head against Link’s shoulder and sighed contently. They all sat in calm silence while they waited, enjoying the presence of their loved ones in the room. Eventually, a man came out and called their names, leading them into the room.

“We gather here today to celebrate the joining of the Shepherd and Lincoln families, through Amelia Shepherd and Atticus Lincoln. The couple will now exchange any vows they have prepared.” Amelia smiled, looking up at Link.

“Link, I’m going to keep this short because otherwise, I’m going to cry.” He laughed, holding her hands tighter. “ I love you. You have changed me as a person, you’ve made me a better person. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t know how I would live without you, and Scout, and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else.” She sniffled, rubbing her eyes. “Okay, I’m gonna cry. Your turn.” Link wiped his own eyes before beginning, laughing softly as their guests chuckled at the couple’s emotion.

“Well, I’m gonna cry, too.” He took a deep breath before looking back into her eyes. “I remember when we first met, and you rejected me at the OR board. I didn’t think much of it, you were just someone who Maggie had told me to ask out. I didn’t know that I’d be standing here in front of you about to marry you in the future, and I couldn’t be happier to be doing so. Before meeting you, love scared me. You’ve shown me that it’s okay to be completely vulnerable, to be so in love and care so much about someone. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life loving you and Scout and being your husband.” Her tears were flowing loosely, Link’s thumb moving to brush away the tears on her cheek. “I love you, Amelia.” She smiled widely.

“I love you,” she said softly before looking back over to the minister.

“Now, the couple will exchange rings and their final vows.” He turned to Amelia. “Do you, Amelia Shepherd, take Atticus Lincoln to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” she said, slipping the gold wedding band onto Link’s finger.

“And do you, Atticus Lincoln, take Amelia Shepherd to be your wife?”

“I do.” He placed the ring on her finger, a small golden band adorned with a delicate diamond on top.

“By the power vested in me by the State of Washington, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Link grabbed Amelia’s cheeks, pulling her in to kiss her as the world around him faded away completely.

Amelia sat down on the couch, laying against Link’s chest. They had moved over to Meredith’s house afterward to spend some time together before the newlyweds went home. She wrapped her hand in his, holding their hands up to admire the rings on their fingers. 

“So, how does it feel to be married?” Maggie asked, taking a sip of her wine. Amelia smiled.

“It feels amazing.” Link kissed the top of his wife’s head.

“It does,” he added. Jo looked over at them.

“Are either of you changing your last name?” Amelia nodded.

“I’m hyphenating. Shepherd-Lincoln. Scout’s last name is Lincoln, so I want the name too.”

“And she won’t let me take her last name.” She turned around to look Link in the eyes.

“You are not taking the Shepherd last name. Too much crazy.” He laughed, brushing her hair back behind her ear.

“Yeah, well I married that crazy.” Amelia pouted at him, feigning annoyance. Meredith walked into the room while holding a baby monitor. 

“Scout’s asleep,” she said quietly. “We’ve got him for the night. Go home and celebrate.” They smiled, standing up and locking their hands together.

“Thank you, Mer, thank you all.” The general surgeon nodded, waving goodbye as they headed out of the house and into their car. 

“So, what now, Dr. Shepherd-Lincoln?” She looked at him from the passenger’s seat.

“Now, you take me home, Dr. Lincoln.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the wedding!   
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, make sure to comment any requests you have for future chapters!


	27. Visit (Pt 1)

Link set down the tablet, turning around to see someone he vaguely recognized. He paused for a moment, processing the face that was looking around the waiting room before he realized. “Betty?” He asked, walking towards the teenage girl. She furrowed her eyebrows at him.

“Who are-”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Link.” He stuck out his hand to receive no response from her.

“You’re Amelia’s boyfriend, right?” Link nodded and shoved his hand back into his pocket. “Where is she?”

“She’s at home, she had the day off.” Betty sat down in a chair, placing her bag on the ground in front of her.

“Oh.” She fidgeted with her hands, tugging at her fingers.

“Are you okay?” He knelt down in front of her. Although he hadn’t really known Betty, he knew how much Amelia cared about her. “Amelia didn’t say you were coming.”

“She didn’t know, it was kind of a spontaneous thing.” The teenager looked at the man in front of her. “Could you take me to see her? That might be a little weird, but I want to see Amelia.”

“Yeah, give me 5 minutes to grab my stuff?” He said, standing up. “I’ll be right back.” Link left the lobby quickly, pulling out his phone and calling Amelia. “Hey,” he said when she picked up.

“What’s up?”

“Betty’s here, in the lobby. She wants to come and see you, so I guess we’ll be home in like 15 minutes?” He could hear Amelia’s shock through the phone.

“What! Oh god, the house is a mess, Link. I didn’t know-”

“It’s okay, she’ll understand. Just make sure there’s no spit up on your shirt and you’ll be fine, Mia.” 

“Is she clean? Did she say anything to you?”

“No, she hasn’t really said anything besides asking me to take her to see you.” He heard her sigh through the phone. “Okay, I gotta go get changed. We’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“I love you.” He hung up the phone, changing out of his scrubs quickly and grabbing his bag, half of which was filled with diapers and baby items in case of emergencies. When he returned to the lobby, Betty was sitting in the same spot, fiddling with some keychain on her bag. 

“You ready?” He asked, she looked up at him and offered a small smile.

“Yeah.” He led her to the elevator, the doors opening after a moment of silence between them. “How long have you and Amelia been together?” He grabbed the keys out of his bag.

“A year and a few months, now.”

“Didn’t you have a kid?” Link smiled widely.

“Yeah, Scout. He’s almost 6 months old now,” he said while pulling out his phone and opening the album filled with photos of his two favorite people and handed the phone to Betty. She took it and scrolled through the endless amount of photos. 

“He’s adorable.” He took the phone back, sticking it in his back pocket and leading her out to the car in the parking lot, throwing his bag in the backseat.

“You can put your bag back there if you’d like. Next to the car seat.” Betty shrugged and buckled her seatbelt, holding her bag on her lap.

“I’m okay.” He started the car, pulling out of the crowded lot.

“Do you want the radio on?” She shrugged, again. He turned it on anyway, hoping the music would cut through the awkward silence in the car. After a car ride with no conversation between the two, he pulled into the driveway of his and Amelia’s house. “Okay, this is it.” Link grabbed his bag out from the backseat and walked up to the door, unlocking it with his key. Amelia was standing in the middle of the living room, holding the baby and rocking back and forth. She smiled as they walked in.

“Hey, Betty.” Betty waved awkwardly as Amelia walked over, handing Scout over to Link. She wrapped the teenager in a hug, not realizing how much she had missed Betty over the past while. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.” Amelia stepped back, placing her hands on the girl’s shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

“Are you clean?”

“Just got my 18 months.” The neurosurgeon felt her body relax, relieved to know that. Amelia turned around to look at her boyfriend, tilting her head towards the baby’s room, signaling for him to leave. He nodded and walked away, leaving the two alone.

“That’s good, that’s really good, Betty. Uh, let’s sit down?” Amelia sat on the couch, moving Scout’s toys onto the table in front of them and wrapping the throw blanket around her shoulders. “Why’d you come?” Betty looked away.

“I don’t know, I just miss being with you. And Owen. I know you’re not together anymore, but I miss it.” She crossed her arms. “When I was here, no one knew me. I had a new start. But back home, I’m the girl who went missing for a year, got addicted to drugs, and had a baby, and then came back. Everyone looks at me weirdly and I hate it.”

“Have you talked to your parents about it?” Betty shook her head.

“They don’t understand. They thought I’d come back and all of my old friends would love me again, but they’re all different people. I don’t fit in with them anymore.”

“Do they know you’re here?”

“No, they would kill me.” Amelia rubbed her forehead, checking the time on her phone.

“Okay, it’s getting late. Why don’t you spend the night here and we can figure out what to do in the morning?” Betty nodded. “But, you have to call your parents and let them know you’re here and you’re safe.” The teenager rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Betty, you call them or I will. They’d rather hear it from you.”

“Fine.”

“Do you have pajamas?” She shook her head. “Okay. You call them, I’ll go grab you something, okay?” Amelia left the room hesitantly, walking into her and Link’s bedroom. He was laying on the bed with Scout sleeping on his chest.

“Hey, how is she?” Amelia shrugged.

“I’m gonna talk to her in the morning. She’ll sleep in the guest room tonight, we’ll figure it out tomorrow.” She pulled a t-shirt and some shorts out of her drawers, sitting down on the edge of the bed momentarily. She let out a sigh.

“What?”

“I’m just worried about her,” she said, standing up. “I’ll be back.” She left the room, seeing Betty talking on the phone.

“I’ll call you tomorrow. Yes, I’m staying with Amelia. Bye, Mom.” Betty set the phone down. “I called them. They’re mad.” Amelia tossed her the clothes.

“We’ll deal with that tomorrow. Come with me.” Amelia led her into the hallway, opening the door to the guest room. “You can sleep in here. I can’t promise the baby won’t wake up, but we’ll take care of him. Let us know if you need anything, okay?”

“Thank you, Amelia. Goodnight.”

“Night.” Amelia shut the door, relaxing against the closed door behind her. Link stepped out of the nursery and grinned at her.

“He’s asleep.” He held out his hand and pulled her towards him, wrapping her in a quick hug as he kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go to sleep.” Amelia pulled away, smiling softly and following him into their bedroom. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep. Her body relaxed into the bed, finding the familiar comfort of laying in Link’s embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This one will have another part coming out soon :)  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	28. Visit (Pt 2)

Betty woke up to the smell of bacon wafting through the apartment, causing her to slowly stand up and get out of the bed. She took in the unfamiliar room in the daylight before stepping out into the hallway and walking into the kitchen. Amelia was sitting on the countertop as Link cooked breakfast, light conversation exchanged between the two.

“Hi,” Betty greeted. Amelia turned her head and smiled at the girl.

“Hey, how’d you sleep? I hope he didn’t wake you up.” Betty shrugged.

“He didn’t, I slept fine.” 

“Do you want food? Coffee?”

“Sure, thank you.” Amelia hopped off of the counter and grabbed a mug from the cabinet, pouring some of the steaming coffee into the mug and handing it to the girl in front of her.

“So, what are we going to do, Betty?” The teenager sat down at the kitchen island and took a sip of the drink.

“I wanna see Leo.”

“Yeah, Owen said we could take him today. Owen wants to come and see you, so he’ll drop off Leo soon. And then, we can figure out when you’re going home.”

“I don’t want to go home.” At that moment, the baby started crying, filling the silence that had momentarily filled the room. Link quickly left the kitchen. “I’m not going back home.”

“Betty, you can’t stay here forever.”

“Why not? I mean, you and Owen took me in and I stayed with you for months. There wasn’t a problem then, why now?” Amelia sighed, leaning against the counter behind her.

“You needed help then. You needed the time to deal with your addiction and get clean. But you can’t run from what’s difficult.” The neurosurgeon moved around the island to sit in the empty chair next to Betty. “Betty, your parents love you. They want what’s best for you, and that’s being with them. I can be your friend, your sponsor, or whatever you need, but I can’t be your mother.” Betty bit the inside of her cheek, sniffling lightly.

“I don’t want to go back.” Amelia placed her hand over the teenager’s on the countertop.

“I know, and you can stay here for the weekend if you’d really like. But Monday morning, you have to be back at school. It’s your senior year, Betty. You don’t want to miss out on that.” Amelia’s heart broke as she watched the girl in front of her wipe away tears, avoiding eye contact.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Start by talking to your parents. They’re going to do everything that they can to help you and make you feel happier.” Betty shook her head. “I promise, it will help. And I can talk to them with you if you’d like.”

“Okay.” Amelia raised her eyebrows.

“Okay, I’m going to go grab you something to wear while you finish eating. Owen’s coming by in about 20 minutes with Leo.” Betty smiled softly.

“Thank you, Amelia.” Amelia rubbed her shoulder as she walked into the bedroom, opening her drawers and attempting to find some clothes that wouldn’t disgust the teenager. Link came into the doorway with Scout in his arms.

“He just wanted some attention.” Amelia smiled widely. “What’re you doing?”

“Betty doesn’t have any clothes with her, so I’m trying to find something she can borrow that doesn’t scream ‘Mom in her thirties’.” Link laughed and sat down on the bed, cooing at the boy sitting in his lap. “Here, hold this.” She threw a shirt back at him.

“I don’t think she’ll really care.” Amelia pulled out a pair of leggings and threw them at her boyfriend.

“Oh, she wouldn’t say anything, but she’s judging. They always are, I was a teenage girl once. I know.” He chuckled. “Owen’s gonna be here in a little while to drop off Leo, and once he leaves, I thought we could all go to the park or something? Just to get out of the house and so Betty can spend time with him.”

“I’ll go get this little guy ready.” He handed her the clothes, kissing her quickly before walking out of the bedroom. Amelia returned to the kitchen and handed Betty the clothes. She watched as the girl left the room, walking into the guest room. Amelia sighed and looked around her, noticing the mess that had built up over the past few days. Link came out of the nursery with Scout, setting him down in his bouncer and helping her to pick up various toys and things that had been left in the living room. The doorbell rang and Amelia moved to open it, greeting Owen and letting him in. Betty soon came out of the bedroom.

“Hey, Betty.” She smiled at Owen.

“Hey,” she said while moving to sit on the couch. Amelia picked up Leo, sitting down next to Betty. “Can I hold him?” She asked.

“Of course.” Amelia handed her the toddler.

“He’s so big. Is he talking yet?” Owen and Amelia both nodded.

“Yeah, just choppy sentences though.” Betty smiled at the boy who was sitting with her. “Okay, I need to go, Allison’s not feeling well. Good to see you, Betty.” They waved goodbye to Owen and watched him walk out.

“Who’s Allison?”

“Owen’s daughter. She’s a year old, now.” Betty laughed.

“You people move fast.” She hugged Leo. “He lives at Owen’s house?” Amelia nodded.

“Yeah, but we take him sometimes. Hopefully more in the future, but we’re trying to get Scout on a solid sleep schedule and being with Leo at night tends to mess that up,” Amelia said while walking over to her son who was happily bouncing up and down. She lifted him up and rested him on her hip. “Are we ready to go to the park?”

“Yeah, could someone take him?” Link walked over with a smile, holding out his arms to take the toddler. They piled into the car, securing the kids in their car seats and driving to the nearby park. Leo immediately ran over to the sandbox, his favorite place to play. Link watched as Amelia followed with Scout in her arms, deciding he would give her some space to talk with Betty again. He sat down on the bench, watching his son attempt to stick sand in his mouth before Amelia restrained his hands. After some time of enjoying the quiet around him, Amelia walked over with Scout on her hips.

“You need to take him, he keeps trying to eat everything.” He smiled and took his son from her. “I got Betty to call her parents again, they’re driving to pick her up tonight.” Amelia sat down next to him, laying her head against Link’s shoulder.

“Okay.” He wrapped his arm around Amelia’s shoulder.

“Thank you for dealing with all of this. I know it’s weird.”

“What do you mean? You’re acting like I’ve never had a girlfriend who’s kind-of-daughter just randomly showed up to see her child who lives with that girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.” Amelia laughed and slapped his chest.

“You’re so annoying.”

Amelia collapsed into the mattress, feeling Link’s arms wrap around her and pull her close to him. “Everything’s okay?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah, she’s heading back with her parents now.” She grabbed Link’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “Thank you for taking care of him.”

“Of course.” He kissed the top of her head. “You’re an amazing mother, Amelia.”

“You’re an amazing father,” she whispered, her eyes struggling to stay open. “Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's part 2! I'm going to try and update at least every other day, if not more often. I have a long list of requests, but let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see. Thank you so much for all of the support!


	29. Babysitting

The doorbell rang, Zola quickly running to go open it. She greeted her Aunt and Uncle, leading them into the living room where her siblings were eagerly sitting and awaiting their cousin’s arrival. Meredith stood up, greeting her sister. “Hey,” she whispered, taking the car seat from Amelia.

“He’s asleep, he ate about an hour ago and he’s been pretty good since.” Meredith grinned as she looked down at the sleeping baby. “Just, call us if you need anything. If he starts crying, he’s probably not hungry, he just wants attention.”

“I know, I’ve raised 3 of them,” Meredith said with a laugh. 

“Yeah, I know. I’m just nervous.” Amelia knelt down to be at the same level as the baby. She brushed her thumb across his tiny cheek. “You sure you’ve got him? Because we don’t have to go, we can just go have dinner at home or something.”

“Amelia, we’ll be fine. I’ll call if anything happens. Go enjoy your date night.” Amelia smiled softly. Link placed his hand on Amelia’s back.

“Thank you, Meredith.” She smiled at Link.

“Will you send pictures of him? When he wakes up?”

“Sure,” Meredith responded while shrugging her shoulders. “Okay, go! Go have fun!” Meredith shooed them away, watching as the parents slowly left the house, constantly looking back to check if something had happened in the past few seconds. Link closed the door behind him before wrapping his arm around Amelia’s waist.

“You okay?” He questioned.

“Just nervous. We haven’t been away from him for this long, yet.” Link opened her car door, closing it after she had sat down and got into the driver’s side.

“I know, but he’s with Meredith. She’s great, and we were bound to get out sometime. He’s two months old.” Amelia sighed, a part of her knowing her fears were irrational. Every time they had tried to leave him with Meredith or Maggie before, Amelia got too scared and wouldn’t leave him. “He’ll be okay.” She offered him a small smile.

“Okay,” she whispered as she took his hand on the console. “Let’s go.”

Meredith picked up the crying baby, rocking him back and forth around the living room. Zola was standing next to her, eager to help. “Zo, could you go grab his pacifier?” Zola nodded and ran to the bag on the couch, quickly grabbing the blue pacifier and handing it to her Mom. The baby’s cries subsided soon after, his wide blue eyes staring up at Meredith. “There we go. That’s better, isn’t it?” Meredith checked her phone. “Your mommy and daddy will be home soon, and then you can go home and cuddle with them.” She looked over at Zola. “And, it’s Zola’s bedtime.” The girl pouted.

“I want to stay up until Auntie Amelia comes home and say hi to her. And I wanna say goodbye to Scout before he leaves.” 

“Okay, but go brush your teeth and get in your pajamas. You have to go to sleep right after they leave, deal?” Zola jumped up.

“Deal!” She ran up the stairs, emitting a laugh from her mom. Meredith looked down at the baby.

“She’s so ridiculous, isn’t she?” Her phone buzzed on the coffee table, the screen lighting up the dim room. Meredith picked it up.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: We’re going to stop at home for a little, is that okay?

Meredith laughed, using her free arm to type back.

MEREDITH GREY: Okay, but be safe. We don’t need another one, yet.

She could hear Amelia’s groan through the phone as she stuck her phone in her back pocket. Zola ran back down the stairs. “Hey, Zo. Auntie Amelia’s not coming until later, so you have to go to sleep.” Zola pouted at her mom before slowly heading back upstairs, only after saying goodnight to her cousin. 

The door unlocked, the light of the porch lamp flooding into the hallway as Amelia quickly snuck in. She walked into the living room, seeing Meredith asleep on the couch with Scout laying on top of her chest. Amelia softly nudged Meredith’s leg to wake her up. “Hey,” the brunette whispered, “thank you. I can take him home now.” Meredith sat up slowly and turned on the light behind her.

“He’s been asleep for a little while now, I hope I didn’t mess his sleep schedule up.” She placed the sleeping baby into the car seat at the end of the couch.

“He refuses to have one, so you’re fine.” Meredith looked up at her sister.

“How was date night?” She raised her eyebrows with a smirk.

“It was great, thank you for taking him. We didn’t realize how much we needed time to just be us, without a baby for a little while.” Amelia sat on the couch and adjusted the straps. “If you ever need us to take the kids for some you time, we’d be happy to.”

“I won’t make you do that until he’s older, they were a lot with him today.”

“How was he?” Meredith shrugged.

“He mostly slept the whole time. But, the kids just wanted to hold him and play with him the whole time so I had to kick them out. He was good, though.”

“Link’s waiting in the car, so we’re gonna head out. Thank you again, Mer.” Amelia slowly stood up, lifting the car seat carefully as to not wake the baby. Meredith walked with her to the front door, waving goodbye and softly closing the door after Amelia left. Amelia could see Link’s smile as she walked towards the car, his face lighting up at the sight of his family. 

“Hi,” he cooed as she placed the car seat down. “Was he good?” Amelia nodded at him.

“Apparently he slept the whole time. So, we’re in for a fun night.” Link shook his head with a grin across his face. Amelia shut the car door after securing Scout in and sat down in the passenger seat. “I’m glad, though. That we got time for us, and now hopefully I won’t freak out whenever we have to leave him.” Link laughed.

“We both know you still will.” He turned on the car and slowly backed out of the driveway.

“Oh, shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone. Sorry for the late update, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	30. Nesting

Link pushed open the apartment door, the heat from inside rushing towards him as he grinned. Amelia was sprawled out on the floor of the living room, surrounded by piles of small baby clothes. She took her attention off of the TV and looked up at him. “Hi.” She smiled at him.

“Hey,” he said while walking towards her. “How was your day?”

“Good. I just stayed here and cleaned. I washed all of his clothes and now I’m folding them so we can finish his nursery.” Link sat down next to her and picked up a onesie, folding it neatly and placing it down in the pile next to him. “How was your day?” Link shrugged.

“Long, a bunch of traumas. Everyone in Seattle decided to break bones today.” He placed a hand on her bump. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s been kicking me all day, which is kind of rude considering I spent the whole day doing things for him.” She picked up a pile of onesies. “Can you go put these in the blue basket?” He nodded, standing up and leaving the room. The light blue room had been cleaned, all of the packages they hadn’t opened over the past weeks gone from the floor, decorations and toys sitting on top of the various surfaces. He smiled at pulled out the fabric bin from the organizer, placing the clothes down inside of it. As Link was walking out of the room, he noticed a yellow blanket laying over the side of the crib. He picked it up and walked back out into the living room.

“Where did this come from?” 

“Oh, your mom sent it over. I went through all the boxes and found it.” Link raised his eyebrows.

“My mom?” She nodded.

“Yup, and the stuffed dinosaur in the basket. I already texted her a thank-you.” He sat down on the couch behind her and placed the blanket next to him.

“You texted my mom? When did you get her number?” Amelia held up a baby shirt, exclaiming how cute it was.

“She added me on Facebook a while ago, we talk sometimes.” Link shook his head in amusement, placing his hands on her shoulders and massaging them softly. She groaned in relief as the tension left her body. “Mhm, thank you.” Link kissed the top of her head.

“Do you want food?” 

“Maybe a burger? How about that place down the street?”

“Gotcha. I’ll be back in 20.” She waved goodbye to him and looked back down at the clothes in front of her, sighing and folding another onesie. When Link returned with a bag in his hand, Amelia had folded all of the clothes and was lying back against the couch with a hand under her stomach. “Here you go.” He handed her the container.

“Oh, could you go put these in the bins? I would, but I don’t think I can stand up without toppling over.” Link smiled and took a pile of clothes. He placed it into the laundry basket along with the others and headed back to the nursery to put them away. “Thank you.” She pulled him down to sit with her. “Do you have tomorrow off?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Yup. Bailey won’t let me schedule myself for more than 4 days a week. She says I need to take it slow and relax.”

“Well yeah, you are 35 weeks and you should take it slow.”

“I’m going to die of boredom here. I already cleaned the whole apartment, today.” He opened his meal and took a bite.

“Why?” She shrugged.

“I think it’s the nesting, apparently pregnant women do it. But, your parents want to have lunch with us sometime this week.”

“Why are you talking with my parents so much?” Amelia picked up her phone and handed it to him.

“You don’t, and they want updates on how we’re doing. Plus, they’re closer than my mom and easier to talk to.” He opened the chat between her and his parents.

“This is weird. At least add me to it.” Amelia took the phone back and added him to the group chat.

“Okay, but are we good for lunch, then? They’re going to have to drive out and we should give them a definite time. I was thinking they could just come here and you could cook something because I really don’t want to leave the house.”

“Fine.” She smiled up at him.

“Don’t look so sad! It’ll be fun!” Amelia picked her phone back up and texted his parents before grabbing her burger and finishing it. “Do we have ice cream?” 

“There’s chocolate in the freezer.” She placed her hand on the coffee table, slowly standing up and using it for support. He watched her groan as she stretched, a hand on her back as she carefully walked away. “You’re waddling!” He called out, hearing the freezer open and close. She pulled out a spoon from a drawer and returned with the carton in her hands. 

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” He placed his hands on her waist to help her sit back down, steadying her. “I feel huge. I can’t wait until this baby is out of me.” Amelia opened the ice cream and dug the spoon in, happily sighing as she tasted it. “Mm. You want some?” He nodded as she scooped some more, sticking it in his mouth and laying her head on his shoulder. After some time of laughing and eating ice cream, they had finished all of it and were enjoying the quiet noise from the news on the TV. Link looked down at her and smiled.

“You know, I love you.” She grabbed his hand.

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!


	31. Lunch

Amelia was leaning against the kitchen counter, watching as her boyfriend scrambled around to make food for them and his parents. She grabbed the spoon, stirring the pasta on the stove. She could tell he was nervous, he hadn’t truly spoken to his parents since their last meeting. “Link,” she whispered, grabbing his arm. “It’ll be fine. They just want to come and see us, it’s normal.”

“I know, but something always happens when we try to be normal and do normal people things. Every dinner we’ve had with our families has been way too dramatic.” She pulled him closer to her and kissed him softly. 

“It’s just lunch.”

“I know.” The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” he said while walking towards the door and unlocking it. His parents were standing there, holding some type of dessert. “Hey, guys.” They hugged their son before he moved to the side, letting them into the apartment.

“Hi!” Amelia eagerly walked over and hugged Maureen, taking the dessert from her. She greeted Eric and then walked back over to the counter, placing down the tray. “How are you guys?”

“We’re good, we’ve missed you.” Amelia smiled at them and motioned them towards the couch. She slowly sat down on the loveseat, using the arm to lower herself down. Link sat down next to her. 

“Yeah, we’re so glad you guys could come out today.” The timer on the stove went off, Link excusing himself to go get it. He stirred the pot of food while half-listening to the conversations between his girlfriend and his parents, still slightly bewildered that they got along so well. None of his previous girlfriends had ever truly liked his parents, or even been around long enough to build a relationship with them. Plus, after their first interaction with his parents, he had assumed Amelia would just not involve them in their life, just as she did with her family. He sat back down on the couch. “Oh, good. I’m going to go to the bathroom, I’ll be back.” Amelia stood up and waddled out of the room slowly. Link turned to his parents.

“Thanks for coming out, I know it was a long drive.” 

“It’s fine, we wanted to come and see you two. We haven’t heard from you a lot,” his mom said while taking a sip of the tea Amelia had made.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t really think to reach out a lot, Amelia doesn’t talk to her family often so I almost felt bad having you involved. But I’m glad she talks to you guys.” Link’s mom smiled.

“Why doesn’t she talk to her family?”

“Well, she and her mom were never close, and her sisters aren’t the nicest people. She was close to her brother but he died about 5 years ago.”

“What about her dad?” Eric asked, wrapping his arm around his wife.

“He passed away when she was young. She just never really had those relationships with her family, but she has a lot of close friends here that we consider family.” He paused, momentarily. “But we’d love for you to be in the baby’s life, more.” He looked over as Amelia walked back into the room, one hand under her belly and the other on her back. Link helped her sit back down next to him.

“How’s the pregnancy, Amelia?” The neurosurgeon shrugged.

“It’s fine, but he kicks all the time and is constantly sitting right on my bladder, so it’s not always the most pleasant thing. I’m just ready for him to be born, already.” Maureen laughed.

“When I was pregnant with him,” she pointed at Link, “he never stopped kicking. All the time. It drove me crazy.” Amelia smiled.

“He only kicks when I’m trying to do something, like surgery or trying to sleep. Because any other time would be way too convenient.” His parents laughed. “Did Link show you the nursery? We’re almost done with it.” Maureen shook her head. “Oo, let’s go.” She led them down the hallway into the small room, standing in the doorway as they looked around.

“It used to be the office, but we figured he’d be fine in here until he gets bigger. We’re keeping the guest room for now.” Link wrapped his arm around Amelia’s waist and watched his parents. His mom held up the dinosaur in the basket, smiling over at her son and his girlfriend.

“It’s adorable. Have you decided on a name yet?” 

“We have some ideas, but nothing definite. All of our friends have so many kids so a lot of the names we like are already taken,” Amelia said, brushing her hair behind her ear. Link checked his phone.

“Lunch should be ready, let’s go eat.” He walked with them back into the kitchen, serving plates of the meal they had been cooking. Throughout lunch, conversation was shared as his girlfriend eagerly talked to his parents, much more than he did. They finished their meals and stayed at the table, conversing about their lives and getting to know each other better. Eventually, they moved back over to the living room as Amelia complained about her back. 

“We should head out, we have a long trip back.” Amelia pouted at her boyfriend’s mom, slowly standing up and holding out her arms for a hug. “But, we’d love to do this again sometime.”

“Of course. Thank you for coming.” She hugged Eric and then watched as Link interacted with his parents, a small smile creeping onto her face. 

“Bye guys.” Link waved goodbye to his parents as they walked out of the apartment, shutting the door behind them. He turned around to Amelia who was beaming. “What?”

“Nothing, I just liked having your parents here. It’s weird.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I think I have to add your mom on Facebook now and become her friend. You know, as revenge.” She slapped his chest.

“No way. I’d probably kill you.” He leaned down, kissing her softly.

“Thank you for having them come out. It was nice, and I wouldn’t have talked to them otherwise.” Amelia looked in his eyes and sighed contently.

“Thank you for being you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter with Link's parents!


	32. Grief

Link pushed open the front door, switching on the hallway light and taking his shoes off. After setting his bag down and taking off his coat, he walked into the nursery to see a sleeping baby and smiled, stopping for a moment to stare contently at his son. After shutting the door, he walked down the hallway and heard the sound of the shower going.

“Hey, Amelia. I’m home.” He waited for a second just to receive no response. “Amelia?” Link began to worry about the silence from inside and stayed outside for another minute before twisting the door handle and pushing the bathroom door open. He saw her small figure hunched over on the floor of the shower, her knees pulled up to her chest while the water ran down her body. He rushed over and kneeled next to the side of the shower. “Hey, Amelia. What’s going on?” Her stare was blank. “Are you okay?” He shook her shoulder lightly, causing her to wake from her trance. She took a moment, her eyes widening at her surroundings. “Amelia, what’s happening?” She stared at her boyfriend for a second.

“I found out I was pregnant. This morning. And I was gonna tell you when you got home, I got a stupid little box to put the test in and everything. And then I started cramping and I didn’t think anything of it, I had cramps with Scout, too. And then I went to the bathroom, and there was blood. Like a lot of blood.” Link tilted his head to the side, not understanding what she was saying. “I called Carina and she said I was probably having a miscarriage.” He placed a hand on her cheek and turned her face to look at him. “And then the blood just kept coming, so I definitely miscarried.”

“Amelia, are you okay?”

“It’s weird, I really didn’t even have time to process the fact that I was pregnant before I miscarried, it doesn’t feel real.”

“Amelia-“

“Meredith miscarried once. It was in the middle of a shooting though, so she didn’t really think that much about it.” 

“Amelia!” He raised his voice slightly, her head snapping over to look at him momentarily.

“I’m fine.” She looked away from him, staring at the droplets of water on the shower wall.

“What can I do?”

“Can you put my clothes in the wash? They’re covered in blood.” Link nodded slowly and stood up, picking up the pile of clothes and walking out of the bathroom. It took everything in him to not start sobbing as he saw the blood staining her clothes. He paused after putting the clothes into the washing machine, processing everything she had just told him.

“I feel like I’m gonna puke,” he muttered, covering his mouth with his hand. After taking some time to regain his composure, he headed back into the bathroom to see Amelia sitting in the same position. “Do you want to get out of the shower?” She shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“Okay.” He sat down outside of the shower, taking her hand and holding it in his. “It’s okay to be sad, Amelia.”

“But that’s the thing, I don’t feel anything. And I should. When Bailey miscarried, she had to take time off work just to grieve.” Link sniffled, wiping his eyes. “But I didn’t have time to even comprehend that I was pregnant before it happened. I just feel empty.” Link slowly stood up, turning off the shower and helping Amelia up.

“Let’s get you dried off, okay? I’ll go grab you some clothes, and we can go lay down?” She nodded slowly. Link left the room once again, rummaging through his drawers to find a t-shirt and grabbing some of her pajama shorts. He returned moments after, handing her a towel and wrapping it around her. “Do you want food?”

“No.” Amelia looked at the clothes and paused. “Could you grab me a pad? I don’t know if the bleeding’s done.” Link walked over to the cabinet and took one out, handing it to her. She slipped on the t-shirt and shorts, using his arms to stabilize herself as she walked out of the shower. “It’s not a big deal, Link. I looked it up, 1/4th of pregnancies end in miscarriages, it’s really common.” Link wrapped her into a hug before embracing her tightly and sighing himself. He felt her body relax against him as he ran his fingers through her wet hair. After some time of standing there, she let out a sob.

“Amelia, it’s okay.” He pulled away to look at her sad eyes. “I’ve got you.” He embraced her again, holding her tightly as she began to cry. He looked up at the ceiling, willing himself not to cry and be strong for her when she needed him. Once her cries subsided, Link slowly let go and led her into the dark bedroom. She carefully laid down on the bed and curled up on the cold sheets below her. Link quickly put on his own pajamas before climbing into the bed beside her and pulling her close to him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, wrapping his arms around herself tighter. He grabbed her hand.

“It’s not your fault, Amelia. This happens to so many women. You’re not alone.” He rubbed his thumb up and down her small hand, watching the rise and fall of her chest with every labored breath she took. “You’re going to be okay. I’ve got you.” After some time, Amelia finally drifted off to sleep, the emotional and physical exhaustion of the day forcing her to sleep. Link stayed awake for hours, staring at the ceiling and silently grieving the baby they’d never meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Posts might be a bit less frequent, I don't have power or wifi or anything so I'm using my phone's data to post. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it was different than what I normally do.


	33. Suspicions

Amelia checked her phone, eagerly awaiting her boyfriend’s arrival as she paced around the living room. It was 9:03, he got off at 8:45 and definitely should’ve been home by now. She groaned as the baby woke up again, his cries ringing through the empty apartment. “Hey, Scout.” She lifted her son up into her arms and sat down into the rocking chair to feed the baby. After settling him on top of the pillow they had got to support him, Amelia pulled out her phone and opened Link’s contact.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: Where are you?

She set the phone down and laid an arm back under the baby. Part of her knew that he had probably just gotten pulled into an emergency surgery and he would text back any second, but she was constantly waiting for him to come home. With over two weeks still left on her maternity leave, Amelia was beginning to lose her mind being home alone all the time.

ATTICUS LINCOLN: Just got off. Is it okay if I go out for a drink with Jo? I’ll be home by 10.

Amelia sighed and texted back, typing to let him know it was fine with her. She knew that he needed time to be with his friends and not be covered in spit-up, but she also missed him. Ever since he left the house that morning, she just wanted to be wrapped up in his arms and to spend some time with her boyfriend, but he had to work. It was as if when Link went back to work, their relationship had become less important to him.

AMELIA SHEPHERD: Okay, come home soon.

The baby finished eating, Amelia fixing her shirt and lifting him up to burp him. “I know, Dadda will be home soon.” After rocking the baby to sleep, she placed him down into the crib and left the room. She settled into bed, pulled the covers over her body, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

“Hey, Mia. I’m home.” Amelia opened her eyes to see her boyfriend standing above her as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

“Hi.” She sat up in the bed, pulling him closer but stopping before kissing him. “You smell like beer.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m not kissing you when you smell like beer. Go shower or something.” He gave her a confused look before leaving the room to go shower and brush his teeth. When he returned, she was reading a book with the bedside lamp on.

“Better?” She shrugged and continued to flip through the book. “Amelia, did I do something wrong?” She placed the book down on the table and looked up at him.

“I just-I know you have to work and you want to spend time with your friends but it feels like you’re never here. You’re always with Jo or Jackson or someone, and even when you are here, you only pay attention to Scout.” He sat down on the edge of the bed. “I know you’re not drunk, but you always smell like beer and I don’t like that, either.”

“I didn’t realize, I’m sorry.” He moved to grab her hand but she pulled it away. “Is there something else?” She sighed and crossed her arms.

“Are you sleeping with someone else?” Link furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“What? Amelia, I’m not. Why would you even think that?”

“You just always go out after work and I don’t know if you’re actually going out with your friends, and we haven’t had sex since Scout was born. It’s like you don’t want to touch me.” Amelia bit the inside of her cheek, willing herself not to cry. “And you spend so much time with Jo, and there’s part of me that’s worried that it already is or it will turn into something else and Jo will become more than your person.”

“Amelia, I didn’t think you wanted to have sex. Of course, I want to so we can be us again, but I didn’t think you were ready. I love you whether or not we’re having sex, and if that means I just get to wrap my arms around you every night and hold you, I’m more than okay with that.” He placed his hand over hers. “I want you to feel good about yourself and I don’t want to hurt you.” She looked down into her lap, her hand pulling away from his so she could fiddle with her hands.

“And Jo?”

“I know it’s not an excuse, but Jo’s still upset about the whole Alex thing. For her, the easiest way to get her mind off of it is to go out for a drink and forget for a little while. I promise it’s nothing more, Amelia. I don’t think of her in that way at all, and she would probably kill me if I ever cheated on you.”

“Okay.” Still not convinced she was understanding, Link put his hand on his girlfriend’s cheek.

“There’s no one else, I promise. Not Jo, not some other woman. It’s you, Amelia. It’s always been you and it will always be you.” He paused and took a breath, looking her in the eyes. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like I don’t love you or that something’s changed, but I do still love you. So much. I’ll take a break from going out with friends for a while so we can have some time together?” She nodded, slowly. “Come here, Amelia.” He held his arms out for her, embracing her tightly.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, nuzzling her face into his neck.

“Don’t apologize, this is my fault. I’m sorry.” Link pulled away, moving over her to lay down on the bed. He held out his arms once again and pulled her body close to his. “I love you, Amelia. That’s never going to change.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This was a request from my tumblr, I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Sorry for the lack of posting. We got hit pretty hard by the hurricane and I haven't had power for the past week. But, we're surviving and I have some data!


	34. Symptoms

Amelia groaned as she stood up, her back had been hurting all day and she was more than ready to go home and collapse into her boyfriend’s arms. She was meeting him in the lobby in five minutes and had to stop in the lounge to grab her bag first. After some time of struggling down the hallway and into the elevator, she eventually opened the door to the lounge and found Link sitting at the table. He smiled widely at her.

“I figured you’d be a little late so I came here to meet you.” He stood up, picking up her bag and carrying it.

“Why would I be late?” Link showed her his phone screen.

“Well, it’s 7:03, and we were going to meet in the lobby at 7. You’re waddling all around the hospital, Amelia.” She pouted and crossed her arms across her chest.

“It’s not my fault, if anything it’s your fault.”

“Your waddling isn’t a bad thing, I actually think it’s pretty cute.” She smacked his arm.

“It’s not cute, I’m fat and huge.”

“No, you’re pregnant. This is normal when you’re 35 weeks.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, guiding her out of the room and down the hallway. “How are you feeling?” She leaned against his body and looked up at him as they entered the elevator.

“Tired. My feet hurt, my back hurts and I just want to lay down.” Amelia sighed.

“How about when we get home, we take a nice bath and then I can rub your feet?” A smile spread across her face.

“Yes, please.” Their hands interlocked. “You’re like, the best boyfriend ever, you know that?” He laughed and dropped a kiss onto her forehead.

“Only for you, Amelia.”

Link but his hands on her waist, helping her to sit down in the bathtub. She leaned against Link’s body and wrapped his arms around her. Amelia sighed contently and relaxed her body.

“Mm. Thank you.” He moved his hands to her shoulders, rubbing the muscles as he felt the tension she was holding. 

“I don’t think it’d be a bad idea if you took a lighter schedule at work. So you’re not on your feet as much and you don’t have to hurry around the hospital.”

“I know, but I like working. It’s like, my happy place.” Link wrapped an arm back around her body and pulled her closer.

“You’re in pain, Amelia. I hate to see you so exhausted. Plus, the due date’s getting closer. Carina did say he’d probably come early.”

“At our check-up last week, she said we still had a few weeks. I’ll be fine, Link.” She sprawled her hand over her stomach, lightly rubbing up and down. “I have tomorrow off and I’ll take it easy, I promise.”

“How’s he doing?” Amelia shrugged.

“He’s calm now, so he’ll probably be kicking when I try to sleep.” She laid her head back against his chest as he brushed her hair from her face. “He’s learned to not bug me as much during the day though, which is good.” Link placed his hand over hers.

“He’s a quick learner already!” She laughed softly. Silence settled around them, Link’s soft humming lulling Amelia to sleep. After some time, he looked down to see her eyes fluttering closer. “Do you want to go to bed?” He whispered, pulling her hair back behind her head.

“Yeah, help me up please.” Link supported her with his hands, watching as she slowly stood up and got out of the bathtub, wrapping herself in a towel. “Can you go grab me one of your shirts?” Link smiled and got out himself, wrapping another towel around his waist. He returned shortly after, a black t-shirt balled up in his hand.

“Here,” he handed it to her, pulling his boxers on and dropping his towel. He held out his hand for her, pulling her towards him. He placed his hands on her waist as she stood in front of him, steadying her as she walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to their bedroom. “Do you want that foot massage I promised?” She nodded as she laid back onto the bed, kicking her feet up into his lap as he sat down. He took her foot and rubbed it, watching as she sighed contently and relaxed into the pile of blankets under her. Her hands splayed over her bump, rubbing up and down. 

“I hope he comes soon. I’m getting impatient.” Link smiled over at her, switching the foot he was rubbing.

“Me too, but I don’t feel like we’re ready yet, Mia.”

“You never feel ready, it wouldn’t be parenting if we were ready.” He set down her foot, collapsing next to her on the bed.

“I know. That’s what scares me.” Amelia rolled onto her side to face him. 

“Being scared is good.” She grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers. “You’re going to be an amazing dad, Link. You’re already so amazing to me.” He slid his other arm under her head, his arms opening for her to lay against him.

“Amelia, we both know that being a good parent takes more than being a decent person.”

“I know, but you’re not just a decent person. You’re one of the best people I’ve ever met. I also know it’s terrifying when you’re thinking about being a parent, I’m feeling the same things. But if I can do it, so can you. And we’re not going to be like our parents were.” She left his embrace for a second, switching off the bedside lamp.

“I guess.” He wrapped his arms around her, tighter. “Let’s go to sleep, Amelia.”

“No, I wanna stay up until you aren’t as worried.”

“I’m always going to be worried. But, you can help some of that worry by going to sleep.” She lifted his hand up, placing a soft kiss on the back of his hand before setting it back down.

“Goodnight. I love you,” she whispered, her body already settling and falling asleep. His soft response was the last thing she heard before she drifted off that night, wrapped in the arms of the love of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	35. Hurt

Amelia slowly walked down the stairs towards the ER, an arm clutching her stomach as she winced in pain. She was silently praying that nobody would come down the stairs and see her like this. By the time she reached the bottom, her small figure was leaning against the wall, a hand reaching into her pocket to grab her phone. She clicked Link’s contact open and called him, breathing heavily with each ring of the phone.

“Amelia? What’s up?”

“Can you-can you come and meet me in the stairwell? I don’t know what’s happening but everything hurts and I don’t think I can walk to the ER.”

“I’ll be there in a second,” he said, clearly beginning to run down the hallway. After what felt like an eternity to her, the door opened, revealing a concerned Link. He noticed her sitting on the floor, curled up into a ball. “Oh, Amelia.” He rushed over to her, crouching down. “Let’s get you to the ER and find out what’s happening.” She quietly agreed, looking into his eyes.

“Link, what if-what if I’m-”

“Don’t think about that. We’ll figure out what’s going on.” He reached an arm under her legs, using the other to support her back as he picked her up. Amelia buried her face in his chest, hoping to avoid contact with anyone she knew. The loud noises of the ER flooded her ears, hearing Link ask for a room. The next thing she felt was the cushion of the bed below her and Link’s hand grabbing hers. “Amelia, Teddy’s gonna come and check on you, okay?” The brunette nodded slowly and gripped her boyfriend’s hand tighter.

“Hey, Amelia. What’s going on?” She looked up at the trauma surgeon.

“I’m uh, 9 weeks pregnant, and my stomach hurts a lot.” Teddy smiled down at her and pulled out the ultrasound machine.

“Have you had a scan yet?”

“She did, last week. Everything was fine,” Link spoke up, his face covered with worry.

“Where does it hurt?” Amelia pointed to her stomach, cringing as Teddy pressed down in that area. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say it’s your appendix, have you had it out?” The neurosurgeon shook her head. “I’m going to do an ultrasound, now. We can see if it’s your appendix and also check on the baby. Can you lift up your shirt?” Link helped his girlfriend to roll up her scrub top, exposing her small stomach. “This will be cold.” Amelia winced as the gel was placed on her belly, watching as the probe spread the gel around. 

“Is everything okay?” Amelia’s voice was soft as she asked, watching Teddy’s face scan the screen.

“Baby looks perfectly fine to me, it’s definitely your appendix. We can get you in surgery soon.”

“And that’s safe for the baby?” Teddy looked up at Link and smiled.

“Perfectly safe. I’ll have Carina stop by first and make sure nothing’s wrong, but I can get someone to do your surgery today.” Teddy brushed Amelia’s arm, letting her know everything would be fine. “I’ll be back in a minute. Hang in there.” Amelia turned to look at her boyfriend as the other doctor left the room, Link’s free hand moving to rub softly up and down her cheek.

“This is good, it means you’ll feel better soon.” 

“Make sure they don’t give me any pain meds, okay?” He nodded. “And you’ll be there, after surgery?”

“Of course.” The doors opened, Carina walking through.

“So, what happened?”

“She was having some stomach pain, it’s her appendix. We just want to make sure everything’s okay with the baby, too.” Carina turned on the ultrasound machine and moved the wand across Amelia’s stomach.

“Everything looks perfect. Baby is all good. I will come after your surgery and check again to be safe, okay?” She wiped off the machine, putting it back against the wall. They thanked her, watching as she walked out just for Teddy to walk back into the trauma room.

“Alright, you’re getting the best. Bailey’s gonna do your surgery. She’s waiting upstairs.” Amelia looked up at Link, her hand moving up to his cheek and pulling his face down. She kissed him quickly before smiling at him.

“I’ll see you soon.” He laughed softly, kissing her again.

“I’ll be there when you wake up.” The nurse unlocked the gurney, pushing it towards the out of the room. “Bye, Amelia!” The gurney was pushed towards the elevator as Teddy walked with the side of the gurney, holding Amelia’s hand to comfort her. When they arrived at the elevator, they stopped. Teddy looked down at her.

“I’m gonna leave you here, I have to head back to the ER. I’ll make sure Link doesn’t freak out too much.”

“Thank you, Teddy.”

“Of course. See you after surgery, Amelia.” The brunette waved goodbye to her friend, watching as the elevator doors opened in front of her as they headed towards the OR floor.

She woke up to see Link sitting at her bedside, a smile spread across his face. “How’d it go?” She asked, her voice quiet as she took in her surroundings.

“It went perfectly. Carina’s gonna come by and check on you in an hour or so, but you’re just fine.” He covered her small hand with his. “How do you feel?”

“Tired, and it hurts a little.” She looked up at the clock. “How long was I out?”

“Just a few hours. Bailey’s cleared us both to have the next few days off, so that means a lot of laying in bed and me taking care of you until you’re better.” She grinned.

“Like you don’t do that all the time.” Link laughed softly. “Thank you for being here, Link. And for saving me in the stairwell.” He leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Lay down with me?” He nodded, moving around the bed to climb in behind her. After adjusting the wires she was hooked up to, he slowly laid down, an arm being placed over her body and carefully pulling her closer. 

“Get some rest, Amelia.” The steady beeping of the heart monitor beside the bed rang throughout the room as he watched his girlfriend settle, grateful with every her breath that she was perfectly okay.


	36. Learning

“He’ll be fine, Amelia.” Link shifted the 7-month-old in his lap, sticking out tongue to amuse the baby. Scout reached his fingers up into his dad’s mouth and smiled happily. “He was okay at his last check-up.”

“He’s been acting differently. Something’s wrong, I just know it.” She brushed back the baby’s blonde hair out of his face, eyeing the length of it. “He needs a haircut.” Amelia pursed her lips and leaned back into the chair, doing her best to ebb away the anxiety she was feeling. 

“Scout?” Amelia eagerly stood up, walking towards Hayes who was standing in the doorway of a room. Link followed her with Scout in his arms, the baby’s eyes wandering as they walked past the different people in the waiting room. He placed Scout down on the table, using his hand to support his back. “So, what brings you in? Scout’s not scheduled for another two months.” Amelia crossed her arms and stepped closer to her son.

“I don’t know exactly what’s happening, but he’s less attentive and acting differently.” Hayes stepped towards the baby, pulling out his stethoscope. 

“Okay, buddy. We’ll check him out. It’s probably just a cold or something small.” Amelia ran her hands through her hair, walking around the small room. “His breathing is fine.” She watched as the doctor shone a light in his ears and paused.

“What? What’s wrong?” Amelia stepped closer, placing her hand on her son’s leg.

“Is he vocal? Does he babble and make noise a lot?”

“No, not really. He just smiles a lot. Is that bad?” She could feel her anxiety building, her hand subconsciously moving towards her mouth so she could bite her nails.

“From what I’m seeing, he’s not very responsive to noise. Did they check his hearing at the last check-up?” Link nodded, turning around to see his girlfriend’s nervous face. He pulled her hand down from her mouth and held it.

“Everything was fine at his last visit. Amelia just noticed him being less attentive over the past week.”

“Has he been sick since then?”

“He had a cold like two weeks ago, all of Meredith’s kids did too so we didn’t really think much of it. Could that have damaged his hearing?” Hayes shrugged at the mother standing in front of him.

“It could have, depending on the severity of it. I’ll order a more comprehensive hearing test so we can see what’s really happening, okay?” Amelia bit her lip, holding back her tears. “I’ll be back soon.” She watched as the doctor left the room, feeling her boyfriend’s hand on her shoulder.

“Amelia, it’s okay. We’re doctors, we can handle this.”

“We should’ve brought him in sooner, maybe there wouldn’t have been as much damage to his hearing. God, I’m so stupid.” Link removed his hand from behind the baby, helping him to lay back onto the table. He placed his hands on Amelia’s cheeks.

“You’re not. Kids get sick, Zola and Bailey and Ellis were all sick, just like you said. There was no reason for us to think that this would’ve been anything more.”

“But I knew something was off. I knew he was acting differently and I should’ve done something. I’m his mother, I’m supposed to make sure he’s healthy and I didn’t.” She moved away from Link and picked up her son, holding him close. 

“What’s the worst that happens, Amelia, we have to learn sign language? Because we can do that. We’ll make it work, whatever happens. Hayes said it’s just his hearing, that’s the only thing that’s abnormal.” The door opened again, the pediatric surgeon walking back in.

“We’re going to take him upstairs to run some tests, okay? We’ll let you know as soon as we have results.” The nurse wheeled in a bed for the baby and watched as Amelia slowly laid him down. “Go relax, it’ll be a little while.” The doctors walked out, leaving Amelia and Link alone in the room together. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the side of her head before resting his head against hers. 

“Let’s go sit down, get some coffee, maybe?” She stepped away.

“I’m gonna find Maggie and Mer, I just need my sisters for a little.” Amelia quickly left the room, walking down the hallway and pulling out her phone. Link sighed and left the room himself. He settled into the attendings’ lounge, pouring himself some coffee and texting Jo. She came into the room soon after.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Scout’s having hearing issues or something, I don’t know. Hayes is doing tests now, and Amelia’s freaking out and doesn’t want me to be around her right now.” Jo walked towards him and sat down on the couch next to her friend.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Link.” He laid back into the couch and sipped his coffee. “What can I do?” Link shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“Tests showed that Scout’s lost hearing in his left ear, and has about 50% hearing remaining in his right. You have options and we can talk about cochlear implants for the future if you’d like. It’s likely that he’ll lose all of his hearing in the next few months.” Amelia covered her mouth with her hand and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m going to recommend that you take him home for the night and come back in tomorrow so we can talk more. Figure out what you want to do.” Link shook the doctor’s hand, waving goodbye as he left the room. 

“Amelia? Are you okay?”

“Can we just go home?” He nodded and wrapped her in his arms. 

“Of course.”

Amelia sighed heavily and held her son tightly. Link had left a bit ago, knowing she wanted some time alone with Scout. She watched his chest rise and fall in the silence and darkness of the apartment. After some time, she heard the front door open and Link’s greeting. He came into the bedroom with a bag in his hands. “So, I went to the bookstore. And I got some sign language books and figured we could start learning the basics, like the alphabet or something.” He grabbed Amelia’s hand. “I know you feel bad, but there’s nothing you could’ve done to predict this or stop it.” Link pulled out a book and handed it to her. “I looked at them in the car. I’ve got like, 5 letters down.” He slowly made the motions with his hand, smiling down widely at his girlfriend.

“Do you want him to get a cochlear implant?”

“I looked it up, they can’t do it until he’s a year old, so we have at least 5 months. And even if that’s what we decide, I think we should teach him some sign language and learn some ourselves.” She sat up in the bed.

“Can you go put him down, please?” Link took the baby from her, standing up and leaving the room. He returned shortly after and sat down back on the bed. “Okay, teach me.” His face lit up.

“Okay so A is like a fist, and you stick your thumb out, like this.” She looked at him and grinned. “And then B is like, you keep those fingers together, yeah, and stick them up and cross your thumb over your hand.” Amelia mirrored his hand. “C is easy, just make a C.” She smiled widely. “See! You’re a natural. It took me longer.”

“I think we can do this, Link.” He nodded.

“One more. This,” he stuck up his thumb, pointer, and pinky, his middle and ring fingers resting against his palm, “is I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! here's another update, let me know if you have any requests!


	37. Learning (Pt 2)

Amelia set down the book on the coffee table, practicing signing what she had just learned, the signs for ‘cousin’ along with various familial terms. It had been almost a week since they decided to start learning sign language and the couple had spent hours every night laying in bed together, flipping through the various ASL books and attempting to integrate the phrases into their lives. Amelia would point at Link and sign ‘Dad’, before pointing at back at herself and signing ‘Mom’. The bedroom door was pushed open, Link walking through with Scout in his arms. “He ate, and he just had his diaper changed.” She smiled and held out her arms to take him, laying back onto the pillows and settling him on her chest.

“Mer wants me to come over and teach the kids some sign today, do you want to come with?” She brushed back the baby’s blonde hair, smiling as he looked up at her in curiosity.

“I think I’ll stay here, you’re better at it than me, anyway.”

“Okay, you have him for the day, then. There’s plenty of milk in the fridge so he’ll be fine.” Amelia sat up slowly and handed the baby to her boyfriend. “I should head out, text me if you need anything.” She paused before standing up. “Do you wanna drive me? I don’t really wanna take myself, and then you’ll have the car if you need it.” Link nodded, standing up and shifting the baby to rest on his hip.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll fall asleep, too.”

Amelia was sitting on the couch, surrounded by her nieces and nephew. They hadn’t yet told the kids about Scout, Meredith knew they’d have a thousand questions and figured Amelia would be better at answering. “So,” she started, moving Ellis onto her lap, “do any of you know what being deaf means?” Zola sat up.

“It’s when you can’t hear, right?” Amelia grinned widely.

“Yup. So when we took Scout to his doctor’s appointment, we found out that he is deaf.” Zola furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“I thought it only happened to old people? Scout’s not even a year old yet!” Amelia stifled a laugh and raised her eyebrows.

“No, it can happen to anyone, Zo.” Ellis placed a hand on her Aunt’s arm, getting her attention.

“How?” The little girl asked, looking right into her Aunt’s face.

“You remember when he was sick a few weeks ago?” They nodded. “Well, the sickness hurt his ears, too.”

“Is he going to get more sick?”

“No Elle, he’s fine.”

“How will he hear what we’re saying?” Bailey asked quietly, standing up and sitting back down next to his Aunt on the couch. Meredith smiled at Amelia from across the room, glad it wasn’t her who had to answer every question they had.

“That’s the thing, he can’t. And he probably won’t ever be able to.” After learning more about deaf culture, attending a community event, and talking to different families, the couple had decided against a cochlear implant. Amelia wanted her son to be part of such a community, even if it meant his life might be a little more difficult. “But, we can still talk to him. Not with our voices, with our hands.”

“My teacher told us about that! She showed us some letters, but I don’t remember them.” 

“Well, that’s why I’m here. Scout’s not old enough to really understand what we’re signing to him, but we want to make sure that when he is older he’ll understand and that you guys will be able to talk with him, too.” Amelia removed her hand from behind Ellis, making it so that the kids could easily see her hands. “So first, I’ll show you the alphabet, okay?”

Link knocked on the door softly, a sleeping baby resting against his shoulder. Meredith opened the door and smiled. “Hey, they’re in the living room.” She held out her arms. “Can I take him?” He nodded, handing over the baby to Meredith. 

“How’d it go?” The blonde woman shrugged.

“They’re still learning, but they can all spell their names and do the alphabet, so they’ll probably get it soon. I’ll keep teaching them, though.” Link walked towards the living room, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms as he watched his girlfriend enthusiastically interact with her nieces and nephew. He watched Amelia sign her name; as if she was introducing herself to the kids. She looked up soon after and smiled at him.

“Hi,” she whispered, motioning for him to come and sit with them. “Do you guys wanna show Link what you learned?” They each took turns spelling out their names, showing him everything that Amelia had taught them over the past few hours. He grinned widely at his family.

“Can we show Scout?” Zola asked, standing up next to the couch. Meredith walked over.

“He’s asleep right now, Zozo, but some other time, okay? You guys can show me when Amelia and Link leave.” Amelia looked at her watch.

“We should get going, it’s almost his bedtime.” She took the sleeping baby from her sister, rocking back and forth slowly. 

“Say thank you to Auntie Amelia.” The kids showered their Aunt and Uncle with hugs and thank yous, waving goodbye as they left. Amelia gently laid Scout down into the car seat and buckled him in before sitting down in the passenger seat. 

“How’d it go?”

“They were great, they’re all really excited to sign to him when he’s older.” Link laid his hand on top of hers on the console.

“I’m glad he has such a good family. The fact that everyone’s willing to learn how to sign to help him is amazing.” He said, starting up the car. Amelia smiled.

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! i got a request to continue this on my tumblr, so here's a part 2! i hope you enjoy!


	38. Corona

“Link, I’m fine. It’s just a cough,” Amelia muttered, reaching her hands out for her son who was throwing a fit. Her boyfriend stepped away with Scout in his arms.

“Yeah, a cough in the middle of a global pandemic when we’re both medical workers. Amelia, you could have corona, and I don’t want to risk that with Scout. He’s not even two months old, it could really harm him.” 

“So you’re making me sleep alone and not letting me see my child.” He sighed, rocking the crying baby back and forth.

“You can have the bedroom, I’ll sleep on the couch. I will take care of him until you get a test, it’ll be fine.” She threw her arms out in anger.

“You’re kidding me, right? You were sick two weeks ago, and I didn’t say anything. I didn’t make you sleep in a different room or take Scout away from you!”

“I had just gotten my test for work done the day before, I didn’t have it, Amelia. All I’m saying is that until you get a test and we know for sure, you should stay away from us so we don’t get sick, either.” Amelia coughed, quickly muffling it with her arm. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Stop it, Link. You’re being an ass and you know it.”

“If by being an ass you mean protecting our son from something that could kill him, sure. Let me get some of my clothes and then the room’s all yours.” He began to walk towards the hallway, stopping as she stood in the middle of it. “Are you serious? You’re being ridiculous, Amelia.”

“That’s funny, coming from you. Let me hold my child.” He stepped back as she coughed again. 

“Go to work tomorrow and get a test done. I’d rather be safe than have to see our son in the hospital. I’m putting him and his health first here because his immune system isn’t as strong as ours and frankly, we don’t know what would happen if he got sick. Go put a mask on or something and let me get into the room.” She stepped away from the hallway, glaring at him as he walked past and into the bedroom. He returned a minute later, clothes in hand, motioning for her to go in.

“And when my test comes back negative, you’ll let me be around him?”

“As long as it’s negative, yes.” He paused, adjusting the baby on his hip. “Go to sleep, Amelia. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” She sighed in annoyance, walking down the hallway and slamming the bedroom door behind her. “I love you too!” He yelled, knowing he wouldn’t hear any response from her. Link looked down at his son, lifting him up so they were face-to-face. “Let’s get you to sleep, huh? Just me and you for tonight.” He walked into the nursery, changing Scout into pajamas and laying him down in the crib. “Goodnight, buddy.” After turning the light off, he closed the door and went to settle on the couch, adjusting the pillow and blanket he had brought out. He pulled out his phone, texting a goodnight to Amelia before going to sleep.

Amelia adjusted her mask, walking down the hallway and running up to meet her boyfriend. “I got the test,” she said, “results will be back any minute.” She imagined that he was smiling at her as he pushed the door open, still standing a few feet away from her. “I don’t have anything for a little, wanna go to the plant room while we wait?”

“Sure.” He led the way, sitting down in one of the chairs. “Amelia, I’m sorry for last night, if I was being rude.” He could tell that she was smiling even if the mask was covering her mouth.

“It’s okay, I was overreacting. I was just annoyed and I wanted to see him, but I get it. You were looking out for him” Her phone buzzed. “It’s back, let me just-” She froze as she opened the results.

“What is it?” Amelia slowly looked back up at him.

“It’s positive, I have corona.” His eyes widened as he sat up in his chair.

“Oh god, oh god okay, we have to tell Bailey, and I should get tested too, and Scout. Crap, this is bad. This is really bad.” Link stood up quickly, noticing as she remained sitting down.

“I should probably stay here, so I don’t get it anywhere.”

“You’re wearing a mask and gloves and nothing’s exposed, Amelia.” He opened the door to leave. “Let’s go.”

“No, you go tell Bailey and get a test done. She’s gonna kill me.” Link nodded before he began to jog down the hallway, knocking on Bailey’s office door.

“What is it, Lincoln?” He took a moment to catch his breath before continuing.

“It’s Amelia, she had a cough, and I made her get a test and it’s positive.” Bailey stood up from her desk.

“How the hell? This is bad-where is she?”

“She’s in the plant room, we were waiting for the results in there.” Bailey picked up the phone, punching numbers onto it.

“You get a test, right now. And wait in a quarantine unit. Get Shepherd in one, too.” He nodded again, running back down the hallway towards the labs. He could hear different doctors talking about how a doctor had corona, he knew that Bailey would have sent out a message to the staff. After getting his test done, he was sent into an isolation unit to wait for the results. He pulled out his phone and called Amelia.

“Hey, where are you?”

“They just brought me into isolation. Did you get your test results back?” He sighed.

“No, not yet. Amelia, what the hell are we gonna do?”

“We hope that you don’t have it and we get Scout tested and hope that he doesn’t have it. And you can take care of him for the time I’m here.” Link could hear her voice wavering. “I’ll be okay, Link. I’m healthy and it’ll probably just be like a normal bug.” A faint knock sounded in the background. “I gotta go, they’re taking my stuff. Have someone tell me when you get your results, okay?”

“Okay. I love you, Amelia.”

“I love you.” He ended the phone call, placing the phone onto the small tray beside the bed. Her voice was ringing through his head as he thought of all the worst possible things that could occur in the near future. If he was sick, who would take care of Scout, let alone if Scout was sick. Some dark part of him began to worry that earlier today was the last time he might ever get to talk with her, even if he did his darndest to shut those ideas out. The door opened after some time, interrupting his thoughts.

“Dr. Lincoln?” The nurse asked, checking her chart. “You can come out now. Your test is negative.” Link let out a sigh of relief, grabbing his phone and walking out the door. He turned back. 

“Do you know if my son got tested?” She nodded.

“Yup, his results are negative, too. You’re free to go home.” He ran his gloved hand through his hair and suddenly felt like he could breathe again.

“Thank you, so much. I would hug you, but-”

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re okay, Dr. Lincoln.” He waved goodbye before quickly heading up to daycare and checking out his son. They walked down the hallways until he found Amelia’s unit.

“Hey,” he muttered, doing his best to contain his emotions as he saw her. “Our tests were both negative, we’re gonna head home soon. How’re you doing?” She shrugged and walked up to the glass.

“Crappy, but I just feel like I have a cold or something. Will you come back and visit tomorrow?” He nodded.

“Of course.” The baby began to wail in his arms, reaching out towards the glass. “Okay, we should get going. I’ll facetime you tonight and you can see him.”

“There’s some formula I had bought for emergencies, it’s in the pantry. I know we were gonna stick to breastfeeding, but that’s not really an option right now.” He watched as tears began to spill from her eyes as she spoke. “And make sure he gets a bath tonight, we were supposed to do it last night but forgot.”

“Okay.” He pressed his hand up against hers on the other side of the glass. “I love you, Amelia. I’ll call you when we get home.”

“I love you too.” Amelia’s eyes followed them as he walked away, waving goodbye. She laid back on the bed, letting her tears flow freely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone-im sorry for the delay in chapters, my life has been kind of weird recently. anyways, i hope you enjoy this chapter, there'll probably be two more parts to it. thank you for all of the support!


	39. Corona (Pt 2)

Link walked down the silent hallways, looking in each room as he passed by. He had memorized Amelia’s room number as he spent the past night overthinking every symptom she had, waiting until he could possibly come and see her again. He walked through the door, seeing her sitting up on the bed. “Hey, how do you feel?” Amelia shrugged.

“A bit worse, but I’m okay. How was last night? Did he take the formula?” Link sat down in the chair in front of the clear wall between them.

“It was a rough night, he took it fine but he didn’t want to fall asleep. Bath time was hard. He missed you.” She ran her hands through her hair, getting off of the bed. 

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Link.” 

“It’s only been a day, Amelia. You have at least another week left in here.” 

“I don’t even know how this happened, I was careful and I always have my mask and gloves on. It doesn’t make sense.” He cocked his head to the side and leaned forward in the chair. “They’re going to test me again today to make sure I actually have it and it wasn’t a false positive.” His pager beeped, causing her to sigh dramatically.

“I have to go, I’m sorry.” She pouted. “I’ll come back and visit, okay?”

“Bye.” She slumped back onto the bed as she watched him jog out of the room, leaving her alone once again.

Link pulled off his surgical mask, turning on the sink faucet and washing his hands. He had been in surgery for hours, just for the patient to start crashing right as they thought they were in the clear. The patient didn’t make it. He sighed, scrubbing up and down his arms before drying his arms and grabbing a new mask from the container on top of the sink. The door was quickly pushed open. “Link!” Jo exclaimed, catching her breath. “It’s Amelia, you have to come.” His demeanor switched, fear spreading across his face as he understood what Jo had just said to him.

“What? Is she okay?”

“They had to put her on a ventilator. She’s up in the ICU.” His eyes widened.

“Oh my god, how? I saw her a few hours ago, she just felt like she had a cold, how did this happen?” Jo gently shrugged before reaching out to touch his arm.

“I don’t know. Come on.” He followed her through the hallways of the hospital, the air around him feeling cold as he dreaded approaching his girlfriend’s room. He saw Jo stop in front of him, looking through the glass. “She’s in here.” Link stood back, unable to see anything in the room.

“I can’t, Jo, I don’t think I can look.” She walked towards him, grabbing his arm once again.

“I know she’s not awake, but she needs you. You should be with her.” He ran a hand through his hair and took a breath, stepping forwards to look into the room. She was lying in the bed, hooked up to a ventilator. Her skin was pale and she barely seemed to resemble the women he knew so well. He turned to Bailey who was standing at the nurses’ station across from the room.

“What happened? She was fine this morning.” Bailey set down her tablet.

“She complained about breathing problems a few hours ago, and when the nurse checked in on her, she could barely breathe.” 

“Is she-can I go in?” 

“Not unless you have full gear on, and only you can go in. Page me with any updates.” Link watched as Bailey walked away, turning his attention back to the room in front of him. Jo stepped towards him.

“She’s going to be okay, Link.” He wiped his eyes with his arm, leaning back against the counter behind him. 

“If anything happens, will you take Scout?” 

“Amelia’s going to be okay, and you’re fine. I don’t think we need to even think about that, Link.”

“Just in case.” He paused as he stared blankly into the room, watching Amelia’s forced breathing because of the ventilator. After a moment of silence, he looked back at Jo. “Please? I need to know that he’ll be okay if anything happens to me.”

“Of course.”


	40. Corona (Pt 3)

3 days, 72 hours, or 4,320 minutes. That’s exactly how long Link had been sitting with the information that his girlfriend had been placed onto a ventilator. He had spent most of the time sitting in the room, holding her hand and watching every rise and fall of her chest, praying that she would recover enough to be taken off of the ventilator. He wasn’t even religious, but he figured now was the time to try everything he could possibly think of. Amelia had awoken a few times, barely able to stay awake for long or interact with him much. She was so exhausted, and all he wanted was to be able to make her feel better. Sure, he had heard all the stories of people who had gotten corona, been placed on ventilators and fully recovered, but it was a thousand times more terrifying when it was someone he loved, especially when the odds seemed slim to him of her recovering or being able to return to her normal life. Jo had been looking after Scout for the majority of this time, a part of her also worried that Link would never see his girlfriend make it through this. His phone lit up beside him, waking him out of his trance and spiral of bad thoughts. He answered the call. “Hey, Jo. What’s up?” Link could barely hear her over the shrieking baby in the background.

“Yeah, he won’t stop crying. I’ve tried everything and he won’t stop crying.” Link laid back into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Did you try giving him his elephant?”

“He didn’t want it. I don’t understand how you do this all the time, he’s driving me insane.” 

“Do you need me to come over?”

“No, no, I can do it, I just want any tips you have. Stay with Amelia.” He looked over at his girlfriend in the bed, her features soft and still.

“Take him for a car ride, he’ll fall asleep. Call me if that doesn’t work.” 

“Okay, I’ll call you later.” The phone hung up, the only sound in the room the beeping of the various machines that were attached to Amelia. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand again, rubbing his thumb gently up the side of it. She soon opened her eyes once again and coughed. 

“Hey, hey.” Link stood up, leaning over to meet her eyes. She looked around the room, continuing to cough softly as she struggled to breathe with the ventilator. “Oh, this is good! I’ll go get a nurse, and we can start taking you off of the ventilator!” She gripped onto his hand tightly. “I’ll be right back, okay?” He quickly left the room and got the attention of the nurse in the hallway. They entered the room again to see Amelia adjusting her position in the bed.

“Hi Dr. Shepherd, can you try breathing over the ventilator for me?” The nurse watched as Amelia took deep breaths, doing everything she could to breathe on her own. “You’re looking great, Dr. Shepherd. We’re going to need you to keep breathing over the ventilator for as long as you can and then we’ll look at taking you off of it.” The nurse turned to Link. “If she stops breathing over it, come and let me know, okay?” She left the room after, leaving the couple alone. Link sat back down on the side of the bed and took her hand in his.

“Are you feeling any better?” Amelia shrugged, using her free hand to brush a strand of her hair back. “I know you can’t talk, but I’ll stay here with you, okay?” She pulled her hand away, reaching for his phone. He handed it to her, watching as she unlocked it and opened notes. She typed; Scout? Link paused and took her hand again. “He’s with Jo, she’s been taking care of him for most of this time. I’ve been here with you, but he’s okay.” She nodded before pointing at him. “I’m fine.” Amelia tilted her head to the side, obviously not believing what he was saying. “I’m more worried about you and as long as you’re okay, I’m okay.”

Link watched as the nurse removed the ventilator, Amelia coughing as the tube was pulled out of her throat. He placed his hand on her back, rubbing up and down. “Okay, Dr. Shepherd. As long as you don’t have any more breathing problems, you’re off the vent.”

“Thank you,” Link said while smiling at the nurse who then left the room. He glanced down at Amelia who was continuing to cough. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

“I wann-I wanna see Scout.” Her voice was soft, clearly strained from the ventilator.

“He’s not allowed in here, Mia.” He noticed her disappointment. “But what if I go get him and stand outside? You can still see him.” 

“I guess,” she muttered, still looking upset. Link stood up.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” He left the room, pulling off his gloves and exchanging his mask for a new one. He quickly stopped in the attendings’ lounge and changed into clean scrubs to make sure there wasn’t anything on him that could possibly get Scout sick. After picking the baby up from daycare and silently apologizing for being so absent recently, Link headed back towards Amelia’s room. As he approached the glass, he watched Amelia’s features light up at the sight of her son. He lifted up Scout’s arm as if the baby was waving to amuse his girlfriend. Meredith walked up beside him.

“How is she?” He smiled widely.

“Off the vent, and she’s doing great. A little upset that she can’t see Scout or anyone, but I’m just glad she’s okay. It’s progress.” They stood outside of the room for a few more minutes, allowing Amelia to see her son for the first time in days. Meredith eventually offered to bring the baby back up to daycare, leading Link to go back inside of her room after putting on a clean surgical gown to cover his skin. “Hi, Meredith took him back up.” Amelia sniffled, rubbing her hand across her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I just want to be better, I want to be able to hold him and tell him how much I love him and how sorry I am for not being there for him. I want to be able to kiss and hug you without gloves or a mask or a surgical gown that stops you from getting sick, too. I just-I want this to be over, already.” Link sat down in the chair beside the bed.

“I know, and you’ll be better soon. You’re getting better fast, Amelia. It’ll be any day now.” Amelia nodded with tears in her eyes, looking down at him. “I’ll be here for every step of the way, I promise.”

8 days, 192 hours, or 11,520 minutes. That’s exactly how long Link had spent knowing his girlfriend was sick, watching her health worsen, and eventually get better while she was in the hospital. After that time which felt like an eternity, he couldn’t be happier to be wheeling her out of the hospital and towards their car. Although she was officially deemed to be recovered and allowed to leave the hospital, they both knew she wasn’t at 100% or totally back to normal. She was weaker and needed help doing things like eating and showering, but they were both relieved to be heading back home. He helped her stand up and sit down into the car, quickly returning the wheelchair before sitting into the driver’s seat and placing his hand over hers on the console. “Take me home,” she requested while buckling her seatbelt. “I want to see my baby and lay in bed with my two favorite people.” Link smiled at her and started the car. She hadn’t been allowed to see Scout while in the hospital, and they both figured it’d be easiest to get her back home where he was comfortable. They arrived at the house, Amelia opening the car door and getting out as quickly as she could.

“Careful, I’ll come and help you.” He rounded the car and placed his arm on her waist, helping her to walk up the stairs to the entrance of their house. Link pulled out his keys and opened the door, seeing Jo standing in the living room while rocking the baby back and forth. Amelia rushed forward, taking him from her friend and holding him tightly. Link quickly thanked Jo for watching him and promising they’d go out sometime soon. After she left, Link pulled his girlfriend into a hug and sighed contently. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you. Both of you.” She pulled away, grabbing his hand and tugging him towards their bedroom. The bed was neatly made, all the clothes she had left on the floor picked up. “Ooh, we should have Jo stay here more often.” Link grinned before flopping onto the bed, rolling onto his side and opening his arms for her to lay down. She did so and laid the baby down on top of her chest. Scout cooed softly, placing his head down and looking up at his mother. She brushed his hair back, laughing quietly as she noticed the length. “We really need to get his hair cut.” Link kissed her temple.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Amelia looked up into his eyes, her smile soft. She leaned up and kissed him gently before laying back down into the pillow. “Promise me you won’t ever do that again, okay? I can’t do this without you.”

“I promise, Link.” She brushed her thumb up and down his cheek while staring into his eyes. “The same goes for you. You don’t get to die or leave, I won’t allow it.” He chuckled, relaxing into the warm blankets under him. His free hand was placed onto the baby’s back, soothing him to sleep in the comfort of his parent’s embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this little series, I hope you've enjoyed it. I have a bunch of prompts to write in the near future, and I'm planning on doing my best to post and write consistently until my school starts and life gets a bit busier :)  
> Thank you to everyone who is reading, commenting, and leaving kudos, it means so much :D


	41. LA

Amelia rolled over in bed, slowly standing up to attend to the crying baby. She walked into the nursery and picked him up, rocking him slowly and talking softly. Amelia looked up to see Link standing in the doorway as she sat down in the rocking chair, pulling down her tank top to allow the baby to eat. “Hey,” he whispered, walking towards them.

“Hi,” her smile was wide as he sat down in front of her. “So, I was thinking.” He raised his eyebrows. “Christopher’s birthday is coming up. And I want to go down to LA and visit him.”

“Okay.” He placed a hand on her knee.

“So you’d be alone with him for a just like a day. I won’t be gone for long.” Amelia fixed her shirt as the baby finished eating, babbling softly and snuggling into her embrace.

“If you want, I can come with.” She smiled softly.

“No, this is something I need to do alone. At least this year.” He nodded, reaching his arms out to take the baby. The boy rested in his father’s arms, his embrace lulling the baby back to sleep.

“When are we talking?” Amelia sat back in the chair, running her hands down the armrests.

“His birthday is the 15th, so I’ll leave that morning and be back at night.”

“Okay.” Link smiled at her. “I got him. Don’t worry, Mia. And if you want, I’ll send pictures every 10 minutes.”

“Maybe every 5.” He chuckled.

“Every 5 minutes.”

Addison walked into the cemetery, flowers in hand. Every year she would visit the grave on this day, just to let the child know he wasn’t alone. She knew that it was hard for Amelia to truly even acknowledge what had happened, let alone come and see the grave. As she approached the site, she noticed another woman sitting at the grave. “Amelia?” The brunette turned around, standing up slowly with a sad smile on her face.

“Hey, Addie.” The two women hugged.

“What are you doing here?” Amelia sighed, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“It’s his birthday. I wanted to come and visit him.” She paused. “What about you?” Addison knelt down to place the bouquet on the grave. She crossed her arms.

“I come and visit him every year. Just so he knows that we’re here. Sometimes we write him letters and bring them.” Addison shrugged. “I can go if you want time with him.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve been here all morning. I was uh, just about to head over to the practice actually.” Addison held out her hand for her sister.

“I’ll drive you.”

Amelia walked into the familiar building, somewhere she hadn’t been in years. Addison had a hand on her back and guided her to the kitchen, a room that held so many memories from her time at the practice. “Look who I found, guys.” Sheldon turned around to see Amelia, Violet’s face lighting up.

“Oh my god! Amelia!” The other members of the practice walked into the room, greeting Amelia as they came in. She was immediately bombarded with questions before Charlotte walked into the room.

“Amelia? What are you doing here?” The blonde woman quickly pulled her friend into a hug, squeezing her tightly.

“I came down to visit for Christopher’s birthday.” Charlotte raised her eyebrows.

“You’ve never come before.”

“I know, but I wanted to this year. It’s important to me.” Amelia could tell that her friends were all skeptical, they knew that talking about Christopher was always a touchy subject and she wouldn’t come out unless something had happened.

“I have to go see a patient, but I’ll come and find you for lunch?” Amelia nodded and waved goodbye as Charlotte left the room, leaving her with the other doctors from the practice.

“Okay, start the questions.”

They were sitting at the pier, burgers in front of them as the noise from the wind around them filled the space between them. There was so much to be said, but Amelia didn’t know where to start. Charlotte set down her burger and placed her hand over Amelia’s. “Are you clean?”

“Yes, of course. I haven’t-I’m clean, Charlotte.” The blonde cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms against her chest.

“So why are you here? You’ve never come before, and don’t give me some excuse about time changing you.” Amelia sighed and unlocked her phone, opening a photo album and turning the screen to face her friend.

“This is my son, Scout. He’s almost two months old, now.” Charlotte took the phone, shock taking over her expression. “There’s some part of me that feels guilty for having another child; as if I’m going to forget Christopher or something. I wanted to come and visit him on his birthday so he’d know that I’m still here and I’m still his mom, no matter what.” She looked up at her friend who was scrolling through the various photos.

“Amelia-”

“I know I didn’t say anything, but I was worried about telling you all. Whenever I thought about it, I just felt so much grief and before I knew it, he was born and I was so enamored by this healthy baby in front of me and I just wanted to not have to think about how guilty and terrible I felt inside.” Charlotte set the phone down and grabbed Amelia’s hand.

“You don’t have to feel guilty for not telling us. I understand.” She took a breath, looking into the brunette’s teary eyes. “Where is he?”

“In Seattle, with his Dad.”

“Who is?” Amelia smiled softly at the thought of her boyfriend.

“My boyfriend, Atticus Lincoln. He goes by Link, though.” She picked her phone back up and opened another photo where Link was holding Scout. “He’s everything to me. They both are. And I’d love for you to come up and meet them sometime.”

“Of course. I’m really proud of you, Amelia.” She quickly took a bite of her burger before setting it back down on the tray. “Okay, tell me everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, this is a bit short but I wanted to post something. let me know if you'd like to see a part 2 to this!


	42. LA (Pt 2)

She found herself standing outside the doors of the practice once again, trying to find the motivation to walk inside and see the people in the building. Over the past hour, Amelia had poured her heart out to Charlotte about her struggles during pregnancy; both those concerning her grief and the drama over the paternity of her son. She’d told her friend about all the small moments between her boyfriend and their son when she just knew that Link was the one and that it truly was different this time. Eventually, Charlotte had convinced her to come back to the practice and tell all of their other friends about her son. Amelia had no doubts that her friends would be more than happy for her, but she was still terrified to do it. She knew that it was for the good and it would only expand the circle of people that cared about her son and would do anything to make sure he was okay. Still, as she walked into the elevator with Charlotte at her side, she took some breathes and prepared herself. The walk down the hallway towards Addison’s office felt treacherous but before she knew it, she was knocking on the door and felt Charlotte’s hand on her shoulder. The door opened.

“Amelia! Hey, come in!” The brunette walked into the room, seeing Violet sitting on the armchair, eating a salad. Addison sat back down and patted the space next to her for Amelia to sit down. “How was lunch?”

“Oh, it was good. We mostly just talked the whole time.” Amelia looked down at her hands and paused. She knew that her friends could tell she was nervous about something, especially Violet who set down her container onto the table and leaned forward.

“Is everything okay, Amelia?” The brunette cursed her friend who was using her ‘therapist voice’, something she had always despised. She looked up at her friends.

“I have something to tell you. Uh, I had a baby.” Addison cocked her head to the side, waiting for Amelia to continue. “Almost two months ago. His name is Scout,” she pulled up her favorite picture of him, from one of their first days at home when they spent most of their time laying in bed and staring at the amazing human they had created. In the picture, Scout was curled up on top of her, his blue eyes wide and his blonde hair almost golden with the sunlight coming in from the window. “And, he’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I didn’t tell you because I was nervous and I knew that it would be really difficult and I was dealing with enough of my own grief during my pregnancy so I just kind of put off telling you until now. That’s also why I came down to visit Christopher’s grave this year.” Addison pulled Amelia into a hug, embracing her tightly.

“Oh, I’m so happy for you.” She pulled away to look at her younger sister, her smile wide. “He’s so adorable, Amelia.” Violet came over and hugged Amelia quickly, part of her relieved that the young girl they had known was so grown up and mature. 

“I’m not sure when, yet, but I’d love for you guys to come up and meet him sometime. And my boyfriend, Link.” They raised their eyebrows before Violet spoke up.

“Um, pictures please.” The neurosurgeon laughed softly, opening her phone again and showing them various photos of her boyfriend. 

“He’s hot,” Addison exclaimed, looking through photos, “and he’s a good guy?” Amelia nodded.

“He’s amazing. He’s the one.”

“And when’s the wedding?” Violet asked, clearly already invested in the new information.

“Not yet. We’re waiting until Scout’s a little older and our lives calm down a bit.” Her phone buzzed with a text from Link. She smiled as she opened the picture of her son with wide eyes, clutching his stuffed dinosaur. Her attention turned back to her friends. “I’m going to go find Sheldon, but I’ll see you later?” They waved goodbye as Amelia left the room with a grin on her face. She found him sitting in his office and she knocked on the empty doorframe.

“Hey! I was waiting for you to come find me.” Amelia quickly sat down in the chair across from him and smiled.

“I had to make my rounds. It’s a lot.” She laughed nervously. “So, I wanted to tell you something. It’s why I came.”

“I thought you came for Christopher’s birthday?” Amelia shook her head.

“Well, partly. But I also had a son and I figured I should come and visit Christopher this year.”

“You had a baby? When?” 

“About a month and a half ago, so he’s still little and also kind of freaking out because his mom just up and left. Here,” she handed the phone over and watched as Sheldon smiled at the various photos of her son. 

“What’s his name?”

“Scout, Scout Lincoln.” Sheldon scoffed.

“You know, I’m a little offended that ‘Sheldon’ wasn’t chosen, but I’ll get passed it.” She laughed. “And how are you doing? I mean, it’s a lot to handle.”

“I’m good. I’m still learning how to deal with things like my grief but it’s getting easier. And I’m really happy.” Amelia took her phone back and looked up at him. “And you? How are you doing?”

“I’m okay. It’s been a few years since Miranda passed and I really do miss her, but I’m glad to be working again. I missed you, you should come and visit more.”

“I will, especially when Scout gets older. You should come up to Seattle, too. You’ve yet to come and visit me.” She smiled before standing up. “I have to go, I have to tell Nai and Sam and Cooper. And Jake. Although I’m sure they’ve already heard. But for the record,” she said while moving towards the door, “I missed you too, Sheldon.”

Amelia grabbed her bag, hopping out of the car and shutting the door behind her. Addison rounded the car and quickly pulled her sister into a hug. “I’m gonna miss you, Amelia. You promise to stay in touch?”

“Of course. And when I get home, I’ll call you and we can figure out when you’re coming up to visit me. It’s about time, anyways.” She checked her watch before pouting. “I have to go, my flight leaves soon.” The redhead grinned before quickly hugging her friend again.

“Bye, Amelia. I love you.”

“I love you too Addie.” Amelia walked away, waving goodbye as she headed into the airport, content with the reconnections she had made with old friends. Her phone buzzed with another picture, a selfie of her boyfriend and their son. She paused for a moment to smile before rushing towards security, eager to get back home to her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There'll be a part three up soon, I promise! Thank you for all of the support, it means the absolute world.


	43. After

It had officially been more than 43 minutes since their son was born, and Amelia couldn’t be more relieved. Although part of her understood that her baby was perfectly healthy; he passed all of his newborn checks with flying colors, part of her was still terrified that something would happen and he’d be taken away from her for some reason. She knew it was irrational, yet the fears were there. That’s why when the clock marked 44 minutes of him being completely alive and okay, she suddenly felt like she could breathe again. Link was by her side the whole time with an arm tightly wrapped around her as they waited for the minutes to pass until some of her fears ebbed away. “44 minutes,” she whispered, looking up at her boyfriend. “And he’s still here; he’s alive.”

“And he’s going to stay that way, Amelia.” She leaned back against him, watching as the baby in her arms drifted in and out of sleep.

“Is Richard okay?”

“Perfectly fine. Maggie said he’s already awake and his memory’s back.” He sighed and leaned his head against hers. “I’m sorry I had to leave.” 

“It’s okay, you probably wouldn’t have liked to be here, anyways. There was a lot of screaming and crying, and it wasn’t just from the baby.” Link chuckled softly and placed his hand on top of hers, slowly rubbing his thumb up and down her skin.

“I’m sad I missed him being born, though. Although I don’t think I would’ve been very calm seeing you in so much pain, so maybe it was a good thing.” His phone buzzed in his pocket, Amelia watching as he pulled it out. “My parents want to come up tomorrow, is that okay?”

“Tell them they’ll be lucky to have any time with him. I’m sure everyone’s going to be stopping in tomorrow to steal him.” He quickly texted back before setting it down. 

“He still needs a name.” Link paused for a moment before speaking again. “How about Derek?”

“I love it, but I don’t want to cry every time I look at my baby.” She looked down at her son again, his blue eyes searching around the room. “Scout.” Her voice was confident, like she had known the name forever. He lifted his head up to look at her.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to pick the name just because I like it.” 

“No you were right, it’s perfect. And we could use Derek as his middle name. Scout Derek Lincoln.”

“Scout Derek Lincoln,” he repeated, the words quietly escaping his mouth. Amelia held her finger out for the baby’s small hand to soon grasp onto it as he stared up at his mother. 

“See, he loves it too. It’s perfect.”

Their first night was quiet, Carina had taken Scout up to the nursery for the night, explaining she had to follow protocol despite the parents’ wishes to have their son for the night. After she left with the baby, Amelia settled and fell asleep in Link’s arms, content to have him with her after everything that had happened. She woke up to Carina informing her she needed to do a check-up. Link got out of the bed, letting his girlfriend know he’d be back after checking on their son down the hall. He softly closed the door and left Amelia inside the room. “How’re you feeling?”

“Tired, and it hurts down there.” Carina offered the brunette a sympathetic smile before beginning the exam. “When can Scout come back?”

“As soon as we’re done. Everything looks fine, do you want some medicine for the pain?” Amelia shook her head.

“No, I’ll suffer through it.” 

“Are you sure? It’s not going to feel better anytime soon.” Carina placed her hand on Amelia’s knee.

“I’m sure, no drugs.”

“Okay.” She pulled off her gloves, throwing them into the trash can in the corner of the room. “I’ll go find Link, yes?” Amelia smiled and nodded.

“Thank you, Carina.” She watched as her OB left the room, leaving the door open a crack. Link soon pushed the door open, wheeling their son’s bed into the room. “There’s my boy!” She held her arms out wide and took her son, holding him close to her chest. 

“What’d Carina say?”

“I’m healing well, everything’s normal.” Her hand ran through the baby’s short blonde hair. “How’d he sleep?”

“Good, as well as a newborn can sleep through his first night.” Link sat down on the side of the bed. “My parents will be here soon, so I’ll go get them in a minute.” 

“You should probably change out of scrubs if they’re coming.” He smiled down at her, dropping a quick kiss on her forehead before standing up.

“You’re right. I’ll be back.” He grabbed the change of clothes that had been packed in the “go bag” and walked into the bathroom. Her attention turned back to the baby in her arms as she took a minute to admire him. 

“You already look like your Dad.” She smiled at the resemblance, seeing her boyfriend’s eyes and hair on her son. Her heart warmed as she remembered that he really was theirs, a combination of both her and Link, a perfect little baby that they had made. The bathroom door opened, interrupting her peaceful silence as Link walked out in clean clothes. 

“I’m gonna go get my parents from the lobby, I’ll be back.” After a few minutes of silence, he returned with his parents behind him. 

“Hi!” Maureen whispered as she pushed the door open, holding some balloons in her hand. Amelia grinned widely as she saw them, pulling the older woman into a quick hug. “He’s so adorable, can I hold him?” Amelia handed Scout over and sat up in the bed. Eric placed a basket full of gifts for the baby on the dresser before standing next to his wife and smiling. 

“Congrats, you two.” The new grandparents spent time admiring their grandson, exclaiming how cute he was and greeting the various friends and coworkers that came and went. 

“Okay, we need a picture of you three.” Link helped Amelia to stand up from the bed as she took Scout back, wrapping her arms around him and placing a hand on the back of his small head. Link stood behind her, smiling widely while looking at the camera his parents were holding. They looked at the photo, unable to stop their grins as they saw their family of three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone :) here's a mix of a few prompts, and a little drabble about a bts photo. if you haven't seen the photo, it's up on my tumblr (afsalta) hope you enjoy!


	44. Adoption (Pt 1)

“So, from the looks of your test, it seems that your odds of having a baby naturally are slim. It’s likely due to any complications during your last pregnancy or birth.” Amelia covered her mouth with her hand, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “You have many options, you can try IVF or we can set you up with a surrogacy agency.” The doctor passed a folder over the desk and opened it for them. “There are some different options listed in here, I’ll leave you two to look over them and think about things. Take your time, and you don’t have to decide anything anytime soon.” The doctor excused herself from the room and closed the door behind her. Link looked at his girlfriend who was staring at the floor, her hand rubbing her forehead.

“Hey ‘Melia, what’s wrong?” 

“I just-I wanted to have another baby.” She looked over at their hands that were interlocked over the armrests of the chairs, his wedding band pressed so tightly against her skin that it almost marked her hand. He shifted in the chair to face her more easily.

“We can try IVF or think about a surrogate. This doesn’t mean we can’t have a baby.” 

“Do you know what IVF is? It’s constantly poking me with needles and tracking every cycle and obsessively trying to have a baby. I don’t want to do that, Link. We’ve been trying for over a year, I doubt we’d be able to have another baby even with IVF.” 

“Okay, what about a surrogate?” She shook her head.

“Can we just forget it? It’s not a big deal, Link.” Amelia grabbed her coat from the back of the chair and stood up. “My shift starts in 20 minutes. We have to go.” He followed her out of the room after grabbing the folder from the desk and sighing, knowing she had already made up her mind about this and wouldn’t budge.

“2-year-old female, unconscious after an MVA.” Teddy lowered the gurney, pushing it towards the doors of the E.R.

“Okay, page Shepherd for a consult. Let’s go.” She walked into the trauma room, pulling out the ultrasound machine and rubbing the probe on the girl’s stomach. “Get me Grey, she’s got blood in her stomach.” Amelia walked into the trauma room while tying the back of her gown.

“What’ve we got?” She pulled out her penlight, shining it in the little girl’s eyes.

“MVA, she’s been unconscious since the accident. I just need you to check her, she’s bleeding in her belly so we’re taking her up soon.” Amelia nodded. “Where are her parents? We need consent for surgery.” The nurse shrugged before leaving the room quickly to find them. He returned a minute later alone.

“She’s here with her foster dad, he’s in trauma 2. Her name’s Anastasia.” Amelia nodded at the nurse, turning back to examine the girl’s head wound.

“Can you make sure she gets a head CT before surgery? Page me with results.” Teddy nodded at her coworker as she left the room, pushing the gurney out of the trauma room and towards the CT machine.

“She’s got a small epidural bleed, I can get in there quickly and fix it.” 

“Okay, we still need to get an abdominal CT for her.” Teddy sat on the desk in the scan room and crossed her arms, smiling down at her friend. “You had your appointment today, right? How’d it go?” Amelia shrugged. She had probably told a few too many people that she and Link were trying for another baby and having no success. Teddy had been in the attendings’ lounge the last time the neurosurgeon saw the results of yet another negative pregnancy test and she had ended up unloading all of her emotions on the other woman.

“I don’t think we’re gonna be able to have another baby.” Teddy frowned.

“Why? What about IVF?”

“I don’t know, I don’t want to spend my life obsessively tracking every cycle and sticking needles in myself.”

“Don’t you already do that? I mean, the obsessive tracking-” Amelia shot her a look. The computer beeped, Teddy relieved for the distraction. “Scans are up.” Teddy sat back into the chair and sighed. “I need to get in there soon, you ready?” They walked into the machine room, helping the nurses switch the little girl back into the gurney. While pushing the bed down the hallway, her eyes slowly opened and she looked up at the doctors above her.

“Teddy,” Amelia muttered, her eyes slowly drifting down to the patient below them. “She’s awake.” The little girl scanned the area around her before looking at the neurosurgeon. Amelia grabbed her hand on instinct. “Hi, I’m Doctor Shepherd. Your name is Anastasia, right?”

“Ana.” 

“Okay, Ana. You got a little hurt today, so we’re going to make you feel better.” The girl held onto her hand tightly and breathed heavily. “You’re going to take a little nap and you’ll feel better when you wake up.”

“You stay?” Amelia smiled softly and nodded down at her.

“I’ll be here.” They entered the OR, helping Ana to move onto the bed in the room. “You ready?” She nodded as the anesthesiologist sedated her. Amelia looked up at Teddy.

“Well, she seems to like you.” The neurosurgeon smiled before walking into the scrub room.

“Yeah, and it looks like I’ll be staying here tonight.”

“If you need to get home, I can stay.” Teddy offered while turning on the sink.

“Nah, I’ll stay here. Plus, Link is gonna want to have some long conversation about our appointment and I’m just not in the mood for that today.” She shook her hands in the sink and walked through the door into the OR, slipping on a surgical gown and gloves. “Alright, let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, this was a request from my tumblr and i'm probably going to write another chapter of it. thank you for all of the support!


	45. Adoption (Pt 2)

Amelia was sitting by the little girl’s bed, her legs kicked up to rest on the end of it. Her surgery had gone perfectly yet Amelia wanted to stay with her until she woke up, just as she had promised. Her phone buzzed beside her, the screen lighting up the dark room. 

ATTICUS LINCOLN: Where are you? I was hoping we could talk when you got home….your shift ended hours ago. 

She groaned and clicked the phone off, not wanting to respond in that moment. She knew that any response would entice a larger conversation; why she didn’t tell him she was staying at work, why she was ignoring his texts, anything about their appointment or anything that she wasn’t in the mood for. Amelia set the phone down and pulled the thin blanket up to her chest in an attempt to get some rest. After getting a few minutes of sleep, the door was pushed open. 

“Hey, how’s she doing?” Amelia sat up in the chair at the sound of Teddy’s soft voice and smiled. 

“Still hasn’t woken up, but she’s stable.”

“Do you want to head home? You look tired and I’m on call anyways. I’m fine to wait here with her.” The brunette shook her head. 

“It’s okay. Could you get me a coffee though?” Teddy nodded before leaving the room and quietly shutting the door behind her. Shortly after Teddy returned, Amelia noticed the girl stirring in the hospital bed. She stood up and grabbed her hand. “Hey, Ana.”

“Hi,” she whispered, looking around the room. 

“How do you feel?”

“My head hurt.” Amelia nodded down at her.

“We had to cut inside of your head, but you’ll feel better soon, okay?” She poured a cup of water and helped her to drink it. “I’m going to let you sleep some more. I’ll be back in the morning.”

“Stay,” Ana said while grabbing the neurosurgeon’s hand. “Stay.” Amelia forced a smile and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Okay. I’ll stay.”

“Where were you last night?” She raised her eyebrows at the sound of Link’s voice as he approached her leaning against the nurses’ station. Ana had gone back to sleep and Amelia had managed to escape for long enough to go through rounds and get herself something to eat. She looked up at him.

“Here. We had this girl come in and she didn’t want to be alone, so I stayed.”

“You couldn’t have texted, or called? Amelia, you can’t just not respond to me. We have a child, who was asking where his Mommy was, and I didn’t know.” She sighed. “Is this about something else? The appointment?”

“Please, don’t.”

“You do realize we have to talk about it sometime. You can’t ignore that, too.” Amelia knew that he was upset and that she probably wasn’t being the best person in this situation. When Link’s pager went off, she silently thanked whoever was dying. “I need to go. Stop ignoring me, Amelia.” He ran down the hallway, leaving Amelia standing alone at the nurses’ station. Teddy soon walked up to her.

“What was that about?” The neurosurgeon shrugged.

“He’s mad that I didn’t come home or tell him where I was. It’s fine, though.”

“Amelia, just talk to him. Speaking from personal experience, it’s better to be honest before there’s no fixing what’s happened.” Amelia offered her friend a sympathetic smile. She knew that Teddy and Owen were still trying to figure out how to raise their daughter, even while being broken up. She’d spent much more time with Leo over the past few weeks as they sorted things out. She also knew, thanks to Tom’s inability to keep his problems to himself, that Teddy had told him she needed time for herself. 

“Fine, I’ll talk to him.”

She paged him to the plant room. It had become their space, where they could talk and escape the problems of the world outside of that room. By the time she had settled and gotten to wait anxiously for a few minutes, he opened the door. “Are you ready to talk?” The brunette nodded, waiting for him to sit down.

“I’m sorry. For not telling you where I was and not talking to you in general. But I don’t want to talk about the appointment, because what happened has happened. We’re probably not going to be able to have another baby and I don’t need to have some emotional conversation about it. I’m trying to accept that myself.” He shifted in his chair. 

“Amelia, this doesn’t mean that we can’t have another baby. You heard the doctor, we have options.” She shrugged.

“I don’t want to put myself through a bunch of procedures or anything. Scout’s the only kid that we’re going to have, and I’m okay with that. I mean, I’d love another kid, but I can accept that it’s not happening and Scout is more than enough.” Amelia held out her hand for Link to take. “This doesn’t need to be a big thing. And maybe sometime we’ll think differently, like looking into fostering or adopting a kid. Like the little girl, Ana, or like Leo.”

“Who’s Ana?”

“The girl that came in last night, she just liked me, I guess. She asked me to stay and so I did. Her foster dad was hurt too, and I’d like to think that if anything ever happened to us, some doctor would stay with Scout until he felt better.” A small smile crept onto Link’s face. “What?”

“Do you want to foster her? I mean, you said that her foster dad was hurt and she’s going to need her own recovery time.”

“Woah, I didn’t mean-” He sat up.

“Can I meet her?” Amelia slowly nodded and stood up.

“Link, it was just a hypothetical.” He grabbed onto her hand and followed her out of the room and down the various hallways in the hospital. Eventually they arrived outside of her room to see her awake and sitting up in the bed. Amelia pushed open the sliding door. “Hey, Ana. How do you feel?”

“Tired,” Ana whispered, watching as the doctors walked into her room.

“I have someone I want you to meet. This,” she pulled Link towards her, “is my friend, Dr. Lincoln.”

“Hi.” Link smiled at the sound of her soft voice and waved. She watched as Link walked over towards the little girl and started talking with her. She smiled, part of her thinking that maybe he was onto something and wasn’t just crazy. Maybe they really could have a chance at expanding their little family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, i'm sorry for the delay!


	46. Loss

They received the call one morning while Amelia was making breakfast. She was watching Link attempt to coax their child into eating some cheerios, laughing softly as Scout took the pieces of cereal just to throw the pieces back at his father’s face. His phone rang on the counter, the called ID informing them that it was his dad calling, so Amelia answered. She greeted her father-in-law happily, just to hear the sorrow in his voice. “Eric, what’s wrong?” She placed the call on speaker phone and set the phone back down.

“Is Link there” The ortho surgeon sat up, patting his son’s head.

“Yeah, I’m here. Is everything okay?” There was a pause before they heard anything. “Dad?”

“Link, your mother passed away last night.” Link’s face immediately sunk. Amelia walked around the counter and stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “She had been feeling sick, and we went to the hospital and I didn’t want to say anything to you until we knew what was happening. They took her into surgery, for her heart, and she just didn’t make it through.” Amelia was sure that Link didn’t hear any of that, she could feel his breathing quickening as she placed a kiss on his head.

“Are you okay?” She questioned, turning her attention to the phone.

“I’m okay. I mean, the doctors warned us that it was a risk, and we both knew that this could happen.” Scout giggled, picking up another cheerio and throwing it at Link. Amelia narrowed her eyes as if the baby would understand. She lifted him out of his highchair, pacing around the kitchen as he babbled eagerly in her arms. 

“Eric, we’re going to go, but let us know if you need anything, anything at all. And when the funeral is, okay?” He agreed. Amelia hung up the phone and set their son down in his play area, walking back over to Link. “Link, are you okay?” He looked up at her.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Uh, we should go, we don’t want to be late.” She watched as he stood up, walking towards the bedroom and getting dressed, confused by his responses.

The funeral was a week later. They had flown out and were planning on staying in Colorado for two days, Jo had agreed to watch Scout during their trip. Link had been silent for the majority of the past week, only speaking when he absolutely needed to. She knew that he had to grieve, but it was so unlike him to be silent when he was normally the one who wanted to have a conversation about everything. She held his hand on the plane, during the funeral and at every moment she could, trying to show him that she would be there whenever he needed or if he wanted to open up. The ceremony itself was quiet yet nice and Eric seemed to be doing better than expected, better than Link was doing. She’d tried to start conversation with him as they fell asleep, but he would either ignore her or just shrug it off and say he was fine. They met Jo at the airport the next day. “Hey! How was it?” Amelia smiled and held her arms out to take her son.

“It was okay, I’m glad we’re home now. How was he?” Jo shrugged.

“A bit fussy at first but then he remembered how much he loves spending time with his Aunt Jo and we had a great time.” The two women allowed Link to walk in front of them with the suitcase as they talked. “How’s Link doing?”

“He still hasn’t talked or anything. I’m getting worried about him.”

“He’ll be okay. He’s probably just not used to everyone in his life dying or leaving like we are.” Amelia stifled a laugh, speeding up slightly to catch up to her husband.

“You ready to go home?” He nodded. Their ride home was silent except for the babbles from their son in his carseat. Amelia thanked Jo as they got home, waving goodbye as she drove away and walking into the house with Link. She took Scout out of his carseat. “I’m going to go put him to sleep.” The baby quickly fell asleep in his crib to Amelia’s surprise, leaving her plenty of time to spend with Link. She found him lying in their bed. “Link, can we talk?” He raised his eyebrows and sat up slightly in the bed. “I’m worried about you, you haven’t been talking much and I know that you weren’t the closest with your mom, but it’s still okay to be sad.” His expression was blank as he stared at the ceiling. “And if you don’t want to talk to me, that’s okay, but you need to talk to someone. I don’t want you to feel alone or keep everything inside.”

“I don’t need to talk. My mom’s dead, it’s what happened. There doesn’t need to be some big conversation about my feelings or anything.” His voice was harsher than normal. After speaking, he rolled onto his side and faced away from her. 

“Okay. But if you want to talk, I’m here. And Jo or Meredith or Nico or literally anyone will listen, too. You’re not alone, Link.” 

They woke up to the sound of the baby’s cries at about 2 in the morning. Link quickly got up and told her he could handle it, allowing Amelia to flop back down onto the bed and relax into the pillows. She waited for him to return, Scout was always easy to get back to sleep, he normally just wanted a little bit of attention during the night. Amelia began to worry when he didn’t return quickly. She slowly got out of bed, pulling on her robe and padding softly down the hallway. The nursery was dim, just the faint light of the dinosaur-shaped night light they had bought lighting up the room. Link was standing in the middle of the room while holding the baby against his chest. Although she couldn’t see him, she could hear soft sniffles and assumed that he was crying. She stepped forward and took the sleeping baby from his arms, laying him down into his crib before standing in front of her husband again. Amelia wrapped her arms around him, feeling his body shaking as he finally let out his emotions. “I’ve got you, it’s okay. I’m here.” When he stopped crying, she led him back into the bedroom and onto the bed, sitting down and pulling him to lay on her lap. 

“I don’t, I don’t know how to live in a world without my mom.” She ran her hands through his hair. “I don’t want to live in a world without her.”

“I know.”

“Scout’s not going to know his grandma when he’s older.” Amelia pulled him closer, hugging his body. “And I finally was getting closer with my parents, after everything that's happened, and now I can’t. Because she’s gone and I’m never going to get her back.”

“Your dad is still here, and he’ll want the support.” Link looked up at her. “I know it’s not the same, and it’ll probably hurt every single day, but I promise that it gets better. I promise, Link.” She laid down onto the bed and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m here, and you don’t ever need to shut me out. If you just want to lay in bed and cry, I’ll hold you and stay with you. If you want to ignore everything completely, we can do that, but I need you to talk with me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I love you, and I’m not going anywhere.” She laid there, running her hands through his hair and soothing him as he fell asleep, doing everything in her power to make him feel just a little bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, im sorry for the delay! school has been a lot recently. I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	47. Together

Meredith walked back into the bathroom, holding a bottle of water which she handed down to Amelia. The brunette smiled softly, taking it and drinking a large sip. “Thanks,” she muttered, setting it on the bathroom floor next to her. Meredith crouched down next to her.

“How do you feel?” Amelia shrugged.

“Like I just spent the past 20 minutes puking,” she brushed a strand of her hair back from her forehead. “This sucks.”

“Do you want me to call Link so he can come over?”

“No, he’s in surgery now. He said he’ll come over after work, though.” She let out a large sigh and leaned back against the cold bathtub behind her. “Do you have to go to work today?” Meredith shook her head.

“Not until tonight, I’ve got the night shift. I’ll stay here and be your boyfriend to hold you and make you feel better until Link comes.” They both laughed softly. Meredith sat down next to Amelia on the floor. “How far along are you?”

“Uh, about 10 weeks, now.” Amelia looked down at her stomach. She and Link had started to notice a small curve arising in her midriff, his excitement evident as he wanted to talk to the baby every night. He’d place his arm over her stomach before they fell asleep and rub soothing patterns on her tiny bump as she relaxed each night, calm in his embrace. “We have the first ultrasound on Saturday, and Link’s really excited.”

“When I was pregnant with Bailey, Derek was so excited all the time. He just wanted every picture of the baby and to talk to him all the time.” Amelia smiled faintly before turning to look at her sister.

“Link does that too, he wants to tell everyone already and buy baby clothes and everything. I told him to wait until after the first trimester but I know he’s slightly annoyed with that. He keeps taking care of me at work, bringing me water and stuff, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts carrying around a box with prenatals and everything.” She placed her hands on the ground on either side of her body. “Can we go to the kitchen? I wanna find something to eat that I won’t puke back up.” Meredith stood up and held out a hand to help Amelia off the floor, holding her arm as she gained her balance. “I’m going to get my robe, I’ll meet you down there.” She quickly grabbed her robe from her room and wrapped it around her body for some warmth as she carefully walked down the stairs, a hand gripping tightly to the banister.

“Do you want some tea?” Meredith was standing in the kitchen with a mug in her hand, placing a tea bag into it for herself.

“Sure, maybe some chamomile?” The general surgeon sat down at the table with Amelia a minute later, placing the steaming cup of tea in front of her. “Thank you,” Amelia muttered, picking up the mug and blowing some steam away from it. 

“What about something to eat? You’ll feel worse with an empty stomach.” 

“I’ll make some noodles, maybe some butter.” Meredith stood up.

“I can make it, you relax.” Amelia shook her head at Meredith’s statement and laughed softly.

“No, you burned mac and cheese the other day. I’m not dying, I can make myself some pasta.” She slowly stood up from her chair and walked over to the sink, filling a pot with water and placing it on the stove. “You can go find something to watch on Netflix if you want. I’m in the mood to just lay on the couch and not do anything for the rest of the day.” She soon heard soft noise coming from the TV as she finished cooking her pasta, placing it into a bowl, and trudging into the living room. She laid back onto the couch and kicked her feet up, enjoying the movie and being able to eat something.

“Meredith, I’m-” She threw up again, feeling Meredith pull her hair back behind her head. Amelia paused over the toilet bowl before sitting back and sighing. “So much for that pasta.” Meredith offered her a sympathetic smile.

“I mean, you lasted a few hours. My morning sickness went away after my first trimester, so you’ll probably feel better soon.”

“My morning sickness is all day sickness. I can’t eat anything.” They heard a knock on the door and Meredith quickly stood up.

“I’ll be back in a second, try not to puke everywhere.” Amelia could hear the front door open, a grin creeping onto her face as she recognized the voice that was greeting Meredith. He soon stood in the doorway, looking down at her with a sympathetic smile.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Your child doesn’t like it when I eat food.” Link pouted and stepped into the bathroom, sitting down next to her on the cold floor. He pushed back a strand of her hair and took her hand.

“You should’ve texted me, I would’ve come over earlier to stay with you.”

“It’s okay, Mer was here with me.” 

“Do you feel any better? Like you’re gonna puke again?” She shook her head. “Okay, wanna go lie down?”

“Sure, just give me a minute to get up.” He stopped her with his hand as she attempted to lift herself off the ground. “What?”

“I got you.” He slid an arm under her back, the other under her legs, and lifted her off of the ground. Amelia wrapped her arms around his neck while laughing. She waved to Meredith as he carried her up the stairs and into her bedroom, tossing her lightly onto the bed.

“Come lay with me,” she whispered, pulling his arm until he was laying down next to her.

“Next time you’re sick, you text me, okay?”

“It happens like every day, Link. It’s not a big deal.” He moved closer to her and threw his arm over her body.

“I know, but we’re in this together. You don’t ever have to be alone.” Amelia hummed lightly.

“Together. You promise?” She could feel him nodding behind her.

“Of course. We’ll always be together.”


	48. Christmas

“Merry Christmas!” Amelia opened her eyes to see her boyfriend standing in the doorway of their bedroom, a tray of food in his hands.

“What is this?” He walked towards her, placing the tray down in her lap.

“It’s Christmas! Our first Christmas as a family and I wanted to do something special.” He smirked widely, gesturing towards the food. “Scout’s still asleep but after he wakes up, we can do presents?” She raised her eyebrows.

“We said we weren’t doing anything! Just presents for Meredith and Maggie and the kids!” Link shrugged at her.

“It’s a little thing, I promise. And Scout’s toys. Plus, I want to at least take some photos by the tree to send to my parents and opening presents will make us all happy!” Amelia shook her head while laughing, taking a sip from the mug of coffee on the tray.

“You’re so annoying,” she muttered sarcastically, setting the mug back down. He was still grinning at her as she wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him closer to her. “Merry Christmas,” she whispered, “thank you for being so ridiculous.” By the time Scout woke up, Amelia had finished eating along with sharing some with her boyfriend and spending time laying in bed with him. They quickly moved into his room, arms wide open as they picked him up and showered him with hugs and kisses. Amelia knew that he was too young to remember any of this, but she wanted to have plenty of photos from his childhood that he could always look back on as she often did to the few photos she had from her childhood. She followed Link into the living room where he pulled out a small, neatly wrapped box from a drawer in the coffee table.

“So, it’s just a little thing.” He met her on the couch and handed her the box, taking their son and holding him as she unwrapped it.

“Link, it’s beautiful-” She pulled out a shiny silver bracelet, the name Scout engraved on the outside. The inside of the bracelet read his birthdate, one of the most important days of her life. “I love it.” Amelia slipped it onto her wrist. “I love you,” she whispered, leaning over to kiss him as their son babbled nonsensically. “Thank you, I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve everything. I love you.”

They arrived at Meredith’s an hour later, bags of presents in hand. Zola eagerly answered the door and yelled to her siblings that Auntie Amelia had finally arrived. The little girl tugged on Amelia’s arm, pulling her towards the living room where the rest of their family was sitting.

“Mommy said we couldn’t do presents until you and Uncle Link got here, but now we can open presents, right Mommy?” Meredith nodded her head, holding her hand out for Zola. Amelia walked around to the Christmas tree, taking the gifts they had bought out of the bags and placing them under the tree. Link soon walked into the room with the sleeping baby in his arms, carefully sitting down on the couch as to not disturb him. Amelia joined him, laying against his side as they watched the kids scramble to open their presents. “Auntie Amelia, we have presents for you and Uncle Link and Scout!” Amelia smiled and stood up, balancing Scout on her hip.

“Okay, who’s first?” Zola handed her various gifts, trying to amuse Scout with the different toys they opened. Amelia received a pair of small earrings and thanked her family around her. Bailey passed Link an envelope and Amelia turned around to watch him open it, her face contorting as he blushed at the contents and quickly hid it below him. Meredith laughed at him.

“Use it later,” Meredith mumbled, her amusement shared with Maggie. Amelia ignored it, knowing she could get an answer later from Link. After all the presents had been opened, they spent the next few hours laying on the couch in each other’s arms, watching cheesy Christmas movies with the kids as they opened all of their new toys, and passing their son around the room so everyone could have some baby time. Once the rest of their family had left to the kitchen for cookies, Amelia shifted to face Link. “What was that?”

“What was what?” She gestured towards the cushion where he had put the envelope.

“The envelope, what was in it? You seemed embarrassed about it.” He shrugged and sat up on the couch.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Amelia pouted and laid back into him.

The family left Meredith’s once it turned to night and Scout began to fuss as it neared his bedtime, returning back to their own house. Amelia had been trying to get a peek at the envelope yet Link had done a good job of keeping it from her. She joined him in their bed after making sure Scout had fallen asleep, laying against him and pulling his arm to rest over her. Silence settled between them as they enjoyed the rare quiet of their house. “Amelia?” Link whispered, interrupting her chain of thoughts.

“Mhm?”

“I want to have another kid.” She sat up abruptly, turning around to look at him in the dim light from their bedside lamp.

“What?”

“Today at Meredith’s, I just couldn’t stop thinking about all of her kids, and I want that for Scout. I want him to have a sibling and someone to spend every holiday with.” Amelia raised her eyebrows.

“Really? I mean, Scout’s a lot of work, and he’s even a calm baby.”

“Of course. Unless you don’t want to-”

“No, I do.” Link smiled at her and placed his hand on her cheek. “Not yet, though. My body needs a longer break and we should wait until Scout’s a bit older.” He laughed softly.

“Okay.” He pulled her down to kiss her, tangling his hands in her hair until she pulled away. “What?”

“What was in the envelope? That Meredith gave you? And don’t say it’s nothing, because I saw how you reacted and that wasn’t nothing.” Link sighed and pulled her back down onto the bed.

“Well, Meredith and I were talking about kids and I mentioned that I wanted another kid, to which she told me to give you a break and not impregnate you anytime in the near future. So, she put a bunch of condoms in the envelope.” Amelia laughed and threw her arm across his chest. “I didn’t want to say anything while the kids were around.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she repeated while shaking her head, quickly moving to turn off the lamp and settling back next to him. “Goodnight Link, Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas. I love you.”

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, i have a bit of an update for the future!  
> I’m in school now, and I have a ton of work. it’s not possible for me to write as often and I don’t have as much motivation, but I still want to be writing and keep posting! so, I have 2 more one-shots that I’m going to post and then I’m going to do a multi-chapter type of story before coming back to one-shots. looking at my a03, I currently have 48 chapters in my compilation of one-shots which is absolutely insane, so I’m going to round it off at 50 and then take that break. I’ll be posting at least twice a week, I promise! feel free to keep sending requests though, I really do appreciate the ideas and I promise it will get written eventually!


	49. Adoption (Pt 3)

“Hey, Ana.” Amelia sat down on the side of the little girl’s bed and grabbed her hand. “I have a question for you.” She waited for Ana to sit up before continuing. “How would you feel about living with me and Dr. Lincoln for some time?”

“You mommy?” Amelia smiled.

“If you want me to.” Ana nodded.

“I want.” The neurosurgeon turned around, looking at Link who was standing in the doorway of the hospital room. They had been in and out of Ana’s room over the past week as she recovered, spending time with her as to make sure she wasn’t alone. He walked up behind his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder with a smile on her face. “When?”

“Tomorrow you can come home with us. The doctors want to keep you here for one more night to make sure you’re all okay.” They had been working with Ana’s social worker as she was in the hospital to get themselves approved to be her foster parents and to hopefully adopt her one day. Her previous foster parents were taking their own time to recover and she needed a new family, and Amelia and Link were more than ready. They’d already planned to take some time off work to help her get settled in while she finished recovering from the accident. “But you’d like that? To come live with us?”

“And Scout?” Amelia had told her about Scout over the past week and even brought him to visit once. When they had told him that Ana would be living with them, Scout had begun to make room in his own bedroom for her, insisting that she live in his room and become his best friend.

“Yes, with Scout.” The door opened behind them, Ana’s social worker standing in the doorway. Amelia turned back to the girl. “Okay, we’re going to leave for a bit, but I’ll come back later, okay?”

“Okay.” Amelia squeezed her hand lightly before standing up and leaving the room with Link behind her. She shut the door before looking up at him and smiling widely. 

“We’re really going to take her home.” Link grinned and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her in for a tight hug. “We’re really doing this, Link.” He kissed her forehead.

“We really are.”

The next day, they left the hospital as a family of 4. The couple had spent all night making sure the house was clean and that Ana would have a room where she could be comfortable in. Scout had even brought one of his favorite stuffed animals; a stuffed dog he got from his grandfather, insisting that Ana have it as a friend. In the car on their ride home, Scout babbled on and on, his sentences becoming less and less coherent as he continued. Amelia knew that Ana wouldn’t understand most of what he was saying; even she didn’t understand sometimes, but she still loved that Scout was making an effort to interact with her. As they pulled into the driveway, Amelia turned around to see her asleep in the car seat. “I got her,” she whispered, opening the car door. “You got Scout?” Link nodded before helping their son out of the car. Amelia slowly walked into the house, careful not to disturb the little girl’s slumber. “I think I’ll just put her in bed so she can rest.” She walked into their spare bedroom that they had turned into Ana’s room. Amelia laid her down on the bed, pulling the covers up over her body and placing a kiss on her forehead. She returned to the living room to see Scout and Link playing on the floor. “She’s asleep.” Link smiled up at her.

“We’re really killing this whole parenting thing, I mean, it’s only been like an hour but we are rocking this.” Amelia grinned, joining her boys on the floor. Scout handed her a car to play with. 

“Scout, you have to take a nap, too.” He looked at his mom and shook his head.

“No. I want play with you and Daddy and Ana.” Amelia ran a hand through his blonde hair before scooping him up into her arms. 

“Ana is taking a nap now, so you should take a nap now, too.” He pouted up at her. “I’ll wake you up when Ana gets up, okay?”

“Fine.” Amelia let out a soft laugh at her son’s stubbornness, handing him over to Link.

“You go put him down, I’ll be here.” He returned a few minutes later alone, sitting back down on the floor with Amelia. “I’m trying to brace myself for when they wake up in a few hours and go berserk.”

“They’ll be fine, Scout just wants to play and spend time with her.” Amelia shrugged and laid her head on her husband’s shoulder, letting out a sigh. “And even if they do go crazy, we’ll figure it out, together.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to his body.

“I know.” Amelia looked up at him. “I love you, Link.”

“And I,” he kissed her quickly before continuing, “love you.”


	50. Happily Ever After

Amelia smiled widely as she looked at the scene in front of her; her husband chasing their 4-year-old son around the grass in the park as their 2-year-old daughter lay draped across her lap, picking at the grass and flowers scattered around her. It all felt unreal, she often wondered what she did to truly deserve this type of joy. She knew that this happiness wouldn’t last forever, between the dramatic and exhausting birth of their daughter Charlotte and Scout’s broken arm last year, they’d had some hardships but every time, they got through it. Together.

“Mommy!” She glanced up to see her son running towards her while giggling. "Daddy’s gonna catch me!” Amelia held out her other arm to catch him as he bolted towards her, shielding him as Link approached them. 

“And what are you doing to him?” She questioned, watching as he sat down across from her on their small blanket. He matched the grin on her face and held his hands out to take Charlotte, who was mumbling ‘Dada’ while attempting to break out of her mother’s grasp.

“Daddy was gonna catch me so I came to you to protect me.” Amelia looked down at her son’s wide eyes and pulled him to sit on her leg. “Quick, we have to help Char! Mommy! Daddy’s gonna get her!” Scout frowned as his sister climbed onto her father’s lap and settled into his embrace.

“I think Char just wants to spend some time with Daddy.” Link grinned at his son, raising his eyebrows as the little girl laughed in his arms. “So,” Amelia began, looking into her husband’s eyes while smiling, “Mommy and Daddy have a surprise for you.” Scout shifted in her lap to look up at her.

“Surprise?” He questioned, his eyes wide with curiosity. She brushed his blonde hair out of his face, laughing softly at his expression.

“Yup, a surprise,” Link spoke. Both of the children turned to their father. “We decided that for Scout’s birthday, we could go to New York to see Grandma and your Aunties.” Scout quickly stood up, clapping his hands in excitement. They’d only spent a short amount of time with Amelia’s side of the family, but the kids had quickly come to especially love their Aunt Nancy and Grandma Carolyn, allowing Amelia to bond more with them, too. Scout had been asking for months to go and visit them in New York, along with going to the Museum of National History to see the dinosaurs.

“Really?” Link nodded as his son quickly ran to him, throwing his small arms around his father. “We’re gonna go to New York!” Charlotte matched her brother’s excitement and clapped her hands together while smiling widely. Their excitement calmed after a few moments as Scout turned back to his mother. “Thank you!” Amelia grinned and embraced him tightly. Link noticed a tear rolling down her face, confusion spreading across his expression. 

“You okay?” He whispered, placing a hand on her arm. She nodded.

“I’m good.” Scout pulled away, drawing his father’s attention as he ran around on the grass.

“I have to go catch your son, but you’re not avoiding this,” he muttered, standing up to chase the little boy, with Charlotte on his back. Amelia laughed and shook her head, her smile wide as she watched her family.

She softly closed Charlotte’s bedroom door, tiptoeing down the hallway towards the light coming from her and Link’s bedroom. She found him laying on the bed with his iPad in hand while watching a baseball game. Amelia crawled into bed next to him, throwing an arm over his body and sighing, nuzzling her face into his chest. He set the tablet down on the table after shutting it off and pulled her closer to his body. “I love you,” she whispered, relaxing as his hand ran through his hair. “I feel like I don’t tell you that enough, but I do.” He kissed the top of her head, shifting so he was laying down with her head on his chest.

“Are you okay?” She lifted up her head, seeing his confused expression. “You’ve been weird today.” She laid her head back down and wrapped her arm around him tighter.

“I was just thinking while we were at the park. About how lucky we are, and how happy I am. I mean, a few years ago if you had told me this is what my life would be like, I would’ve told you that you’re insane.”

“Yeah, after you rejected me.” She lightly slapped his chest, emitting a laugh from him.

“You didn’t even like me. You just did it because Maggie told you to.”

“Maybe I didn’t like you at the time, but I thought you were hot.” Amelia giggled, shaking her head slowly.

“You’re absolutely ridiculous.” She placed her arm back around his body and closed her eyes. “I still love you, though.” Link turned off the lamp beside him, pulling the covers up over their bodies.

“I kind of love you too.” He laughed softly. 

“What?” She asked, turning her head to look up at him.

“Just how you were saying how a few years ago, this all would’ve sounded insane to us. Our lives sound like a fairytale, I don’t think I would’ve believed this was possible.” She leaned up, placing a quick kiss on his lips. 

“That’s because you’re my happily ever after.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone, im really sorry for the delay in posting. this is the last one shot I'll be writing for a little bit. over these past few weeks, one of my family members got a really big and frankly a scary diagnosis, and we’re trying to figure that out and I honestly dont know what's going to happen. grey’s didn't prepare me for this one. I'm also applying to schools, and its a lot of work for me right now. so, I’ll be taking a break for I dont know how long. but that you to everyone who has supported and liked my writing, I never thought id have so many people who enjoyed my writing. thank you for understanding


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